


The Family You Make

by Off_The_Moon



Series: The Family You Make [2]
Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Campbell Corp is essentially a Mafia, Daniel as the creepy uncle, Extended Family, Family building is team building, Gen, Max as a little shit, Panic Attacks, Red V Blue reffrences, Religious doubts, Slight RWBY College AU, Slight RWBY cross over, adoption au, body scars, dadvid, dark themes, slow burn plot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-16
Updated: 2018-11-02
Packaged: 2018-12-03 01:54:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 107,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11522076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Off_The_Moon/pseuds/Off_The_Moon
Summary: "Everyone deserves to be happy, Max. If not with the family you are born into, then the one you make for yourself."In which Max didn't ever plan for David to adopt him, but it happened anyway.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is the main story for my Adoption AU. As you can probably tell it's linked to a collection. It's in this collection you will find one-shots and asides for this same AU. Reading them won't exactly be required (yet) but I recommend you check them out. All of these chapters will also be posted on my tumblr account _Off-The-Moon_  
>  I do not own these characters, and uh... if anyone would like to take the time to explain just what tags i'm supposed to put for this story that would be appreciated.

“No activities for a week, all the snacks I want and David's social security number.”

“Done.”

“Gwen!” David protested, but he was ignored. He knew they were up against a wall when it came on how to approach Nurf's behavioral problems- but were they really _that_ desperate? Hugs always made him feel better- couldn’t they just hug it out?

Besides what did a ten year old know about fixing behavioral issues probably years in the running? It wasn’t worth all _that_. David needed his social security number. He equally shuddered to think what Max would do with it.

Unfortunately the topic moved on pretty quickly and David didn’t get to defend his points. Later that evening when Max came to collect; David once again tried to protest but Gwen- the traitor- handed over the number despite his protests.

“He’s ten. What the hell do you think he'll do with it?” was Gwen's argument, “if something does come up just claim for a stolen identity and get a new one.”

She had a point but David still didn’t like the idea. How embarrassing would that be? Hello, yes government? My identity got traded for some tips on correcting beharior issues, but we ended up just hitting the child. Yeah that would go over well.

David stared at the wall that entire night, ruefully wondering what fate the apathetic ten year old would bring upon him. He resisted the urge to pace around but he didn’t want to wake up Gwen and make her angry.

Still the issue rolled around in David’s mind, enough to the point that he knew he had to look into it more. David wasn’t much for believing in certain religions or practices, they always just seemed stupid to him. He was an atheist by nature more than practice, and fully supported people believing whatever they wanted. No matter how weird or eccentric it might be. Still, one wasn’t raised by parents with their own beliefs and walked away _completely_ uninfluenced. Growing up around certain rituals made you comfortable with them, and comforting in turn. Maybe some of his mom’s practices could help rid some of this uneasiness.

David sat up off his bed and quietly opened one of the drawers to his dresser, removing an old wooden case he kept there. Careful not to wake up Gwen he put on some pants and slipped on his shoes without tying the laces. He closed the cabin door quietly, and heading across the camp grounds into the mess hall. Making a quick round and making sure all of the kids were asleep and in their tents as he went.

Everyone accounted for he made his way to the mess hall through the back door, flicking on the light to illuminate the kitchen. David pretty much worked from muscle memory by now. Pulling the old tea kettle off of its shelf and filling it with water from the sink, lighting the old gas stove, and setting the water to boil.

The wooden box was old and worn, Being one of the first wood carving projects he had worked on and completed without his father’s help. It was about the size and shape of a shoe box, with a simple latch and a series of dovetails keeping it together. Inside were two different sections, the smallest of which was stuffed with small paper packets, each portioned with different kinds of dried teas. The other section contained a delicate and thin porcelain cup that had been given to him years ago by his mother as a birthday gift.

David carefully took the cup and saucer out, rinsed it out with some water and dried it off with a paper towel. After some deliberation he chose some black tea leaves and started grinding them up in his cup, the old leaves crumbling like dust. By the time he had a sufficient amount of leaves, the water was done boiling. David pored the water, and let the tea steep and cool, putting the tea kettle up as well as some other things the Quarter Master hadn’t bothered to put up evening. David then packed up his tea leaves, collected his cup and saucer, and settled down on a bar stool in the middle of the kitchen.

He let the tea calm his nerves and he turned the issue of Max over in his mind. The child was very frustrating to deal with. Always acting out and causing trouble. At first David had thought it had been for attention. So he hadn’t acknowledge all of his escape attempts with more than a casual reprimand, and made extra sure to give him more than enough recognition for anything constructive he did. Use reverse psychology and all- give Max the attention he wanted for being productive. That didn’t seem to be working all that well though. David didn’t think Max was lashing out to get attention anymore. Especially since the bad behavior continued well after Max had made some new friends who gave him nothing but attention.

Max seemed to just act out _just_ to act out- and while Gwen liked to sum it up to Max being a spiteful prick, nothing in life was ever that simple. Max was never that simple though. Max thought things through, made sure to cover his tracks. He was a frighteningly clever child. David had given up actively try to stop his shenanigans simply because it would take to much time and energy to keep up with it all. So Max had to be aiming for something, asking for his social security number like this. Was it a bad thing though? Something David should try to mitigate, or would that just lead to things becoming more of a mess?

David turned these questions over in his mind as he finished up his tea. Leaving just a bit in the bottom. He swirled the cup in a practiced motion, and set the cup down on his saucer. The dregs presented themselves to him, standing out black against the white cup. David looked over them with a trained eye, occasionally turning the cup. When he was done he picked the tea cup up and flipped the whole thing upside down onto his saucer. Pulling the cup off again to examine the watery mess.

Trouble was indicated, in the form of a cage. However things were going to change for the better. Both would revolve around a family issue.

David contemplated these points as he washed the cup and saucer, drying them out afterwards.

A Cage and Family probably ment that Max’s home life wasn’t ideal, something David had already suspected, but it had never seemed sever enough for an intervention. Max probably felt trapt by them- or was being restricted in some way. Maybe the issue came down to control. Max didn’t feel as if he had much control of his life at home, so coming out here where his parents weren’t around was like a dream come true. He could do whatever he wanted with minimal consequences so he acted out to feel as if there were some aspects of his life he could control. It wasn’t that uncommon of an issue, lots of kids acted out when they were free from their parent’s influence. It was just that Max was so clever, and able to do things on a larger scale that made him difficult.

David really did hope things would turn out for the better. While Max was in camp, David could help. But once the summer was up there wasn’t much that could be done. There wasn’t much David could do as it was though. Stepping in to stop Max’s plans would just make it seem like David was also trying to control his life. However ignoring Max would probably lead to the camp being set on fire. Again.

David sighed as he put away his tea set and made his way back to his cabin. Not as nervous as he had been earlier, but still miles from sleep. He didn’t even make an effort to go back to bed. Sitting in his desk chair with the lamp off and starring off into space at his clip board. **Max + positivity = Success** needed some reworking. The Max variable had just changed big time- and Success would probably have to be redefined as well. How did David want Max to succeed? Before it was just to have Max make some friends and have fun. Now it was certainly becoming more.

It was a good thing David had a lot of time on his hands to think about it. The few perks of being a chronic insomniac he supposed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max's plan is kicking into action. Whatever it is. David could probably find out, but he kind of wants to also give Max some autonomy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own any of these characters.

David’s email password had been changed.

He stared down at the text alert with a frown all during his morning routine. At breakfast Max looked over to him and gave him a poorly hidden, smug smile before turning to listen to Nikki beside him.

David drummed his fingers on the table as he looked at the message on his phone for the tenth time.

Max might be incredibly clever, but in all honestly he was still ten. The text message _displayed_ the new password. It would take two seconds for him to change it again- David abstained from doing so, however. If causing inconveniences like this helped Max feel as if he had some kind of control over his life, he wasn’t going to get in the boy’s way over something so small.

Part of David was kind of curious as well. Wondering just what Max's goal was. Call it playing with fire- but David wasn’t all safe trails and quiet living. People who wanted to live an easy life didn’t stick around Campbell Corp. for so long, after all. Or make it up to third tier if they couldn’t handle a bit of pressure.

So over the next few days he played oblivious and didn’t confront Max on the issue, also making sure not to read or reply to emails as they came in via phone. That was what he usually did- it was the main reason his phone was connected to his email after all. He held back, and just called the people whom sent him time-sensitive messages. David made sure Max overheard one such call, where he apologized about not being able to respond to the email.

“I just can’t log in for some reason, I think someone might have hacked my email account. I'm setting up a new email, here let me give it to you.”

Within a week everything had been straitened out with his contacts and the camper’s parents. David honestly didn’t even need his old email account anymore. Still, he kept note of any incoming emails and couldn’t help but smile as Max tried to change the phone number to one Neil had managed to wire up with some equipment. Yet completely ignored David adding his number back on as a secondary. Max’s over confidence when a plan was going well was certainly a sign that despite his cleverness he was still a child.

It was a good thing he had the foresight to add his number back to his old account, because that was when Max really started up on things. Using his old email to change his passwords to his Face Book, Turbo Tax account, as well as his bank accounts. Max even tried to get a new credit card mailed to the camp. Humorously he used the same password for each account, much like a ten year old who didn’t know the ins and outs of adult accounting would. David rolled his eyes at this and made sure Max wasn’t doing anything too dangerous with the accounts, and confiscated the new card from the mail bin before Max could get a hold of it.

Max seemed incredibly frustrated by this- if only for the fact that David made a point to show him he had intercepted the card before hiding it where the kid would never find it. David didn’t really use his card all that much in the summer since he was at camp all the time so it wasn’t much of a big deal. If he did find it well… it was the same hiding whole he also kept his shotgun and ammo in so god help them _all_ if that was the case. David didn’t think he would try to shoot up the camp, but he knew the child wouldn’t pass the opportunity up.

Max didn’t seem caught up on the credit card for too long, but as the summer reached its halfway point and the ending days of camp loomed on the horizon Max became increasingly frustrated with something. Perhaps it was because the whole stealing his identity hadn’t gone quite as planned, or maybe it was the fact that he- like many of the other campers- were sad that they would be leaving camp so soon.

Max began to fluctuate between lashing out verbally to becoming recluse and sullen, sometimes not even eating meals and just poking at his food. He was clearly stressing over something. David and Gwen caught him riffling through the office paperwork more than a handful of times and David had even caught him digging around David’s personal stuff one day. The kid hadn’t come close to finding where he actually kept his new credit card. (David didn’t think the kid was tall enough to even consider the hiding place a possibility in all honestly.) Still- it was pretty frustrating itself to have his room torn apart and have to spend an hour of his sparse free time picking things back up.

“Max, if there is something you need, just _ask_ me for it. I'd be happy to help you.” David confronted the boy when he caught Max digging through his things _again_.

“I don’t want anything from you, Davey.” Max crossed his arms stubbornly.

David sat down in front of the child, speaking gently, “Are you sure? You seem pretty keen on going through my things. You already have my online accounts and social- do you really need my credit card that badly?”

“How do you know about all that?!” Max exploded with surprise, just like any kid who had their super-secret but actually-obvious plans exposed. David schooled his expression, not wanting to accidentally say the wrong thing and give his cards away. The last thing he should do was reveal how ineffective Max’s attempts had been so far. He didn’t want to take Max’s control away like that. Like David was some cartoon villain who let him get this far only to sweep the rug out from under his feet.

“Well, I haven’t been able to get into any of my accounts recently. I assumed it was you.” David thought quickly and spoke carefully, “Unless I’m mistaken?”

It was a logical train of thought, and Max fell for it, his shoulders relaxing a bit. Though he did cross his arms grumpily and refuse to speak.

“There's something more you’re planning on doing with my information, isn’t there?” David probed gently. He wasn’t sure, but with the way Max had been digging through his office that seemed to be the case. Maybe this was a good thing. A opportunity to show Max once and for all that he could trust David. That not all adults were like his parents, controlling and restricting.

“Why don’t you tell me what you need? I don’t need to know what you’re doing with it. I can still have a genuine reaction when you pull the finale on me! I honestly have no idea what it is- its like waiting for the shoe to drop but it’s not a shoe- its…. It’s more like that catapult you took Larry out with.” David couldn’t help but smile at that. He’d been so glad Max had been put so much effort into something like that- even if the outcome had been a bit unfavorable.

Max didn’t call the idea out as lame or stupid- instead he just raised an eyebrow. “Wait- you know I’ve been doing all this stuff… but you have no idea what I’m doing at all? You haven’t even tried to get your accounts back?”

“That’s right.” David nodded, resting his hands on his knees as he stayed crouched at max’s height, “Like I said before, I figured I would let you surprise me. I can see how much effort you’ve put into all of this Max. I love it when you put effort into things, it always puts a unique spin on my day.”

“David,” Max face palmed suffering, “you’re a god damned idiot.”

“Language, Max. Please.” David reprimanded gently.

“Well you are! You don’t even know what I’m doing- it could be really bad David! I mean it’s not but- never mind. I can’t believe you’d just trust me like- you know what? It’s _you_ I’m talking to. Why am I even questioning it?” The boy rolled his eyes, and then held out a hand, “Give me your home address.”

David frowned, “My home address?”

“Yeah, it’s the last thing I need for the… surprise. Your home address, and also how many rooms it has.” Max hesitated on the last sentence, glancing away. If David knew any better he would say the boy actually looked a bit nervous. David didn’t call him out on it. This moment was important. He needed to let Max know that David was willing to work with him on things. That Max didn’t need to sneak around to do things he wanted, that he could ask for things and get them in return with no strings attached. That David wasn’t trying to control him.

“That’s going to be a bit tricky,” David leveled with Max. sitting down with his legs crossed, speaking openly, “I don’t exactly have one, Max.”

That seemed to catch the child off guard. The boy blinked several times, “What- like you’re homeless? You’re kidding me right?”

“No, of course I’m not homeless. I live _here_ ,” David gestured around them to emphasize his cabin room. When he turned back to the boy David could see the confusion written all over his face.

“Max, after the summer camp closes down for the season, we don’t just leave it here empty the rest of the year.” David explained gently, “We rent it out to other groups, and do repairs and we even let hunters come in the fall for deer season- and by _we_ I mostly mean _me_. The Quarter Master’s much too old to be working in the snow these days, Mr. Campbell is well… busy with other things, and Gwen’s only hired on for the summer camp.”

“Woooow,” Max dragged out in surprise, “you know when I came up with that ‘camp-man’ nick name for you… I never realized it would be so… fitting.”

“This is how camps work, Max.” David raised both his hands, not able to offer much more than the truth, “Have you ever heard of a resident grounds keeper? That’s what I am, essentially.” David paused in thought and started to count everything off on his fingers, “though I am more of a facilities manager. I also do the booking, and the hiring- the only things I really don’t do is advertising and own the camp in its actuality. It’s complicated.”

“So… you really do live here all year round?” Max looked between David’s side of the room and then over to Gwen’s. The entire room was small and Spartan, but honestly that was how David preferred it. He was never one for having a luxurious life.

“Yes,” David affirmed, scratching the back of his neck, “So if what you need is an address of residency- which is sounds like what you need- that’s going to be a bit hard. See, I don’t exactly _pay_ rent to live here. I ought to, but I don’t. It’s just an arrangement Mr. Campbell and I have.”

“So it’s a legally grey deal and probably more illegal than not.” Max assessed, looking sideways to think over some things. Things didn’t seem to be adding up for him judging by his brows furrowed, “Shit.”

“Max, Language,” David reprimanded once again.

“Are you sure there isn’t anything you could list as a residence?” Max looked to him, “Anything? Like an old apartment building from before you worked here or something? I don’t think the camp address with be acceptable… and it’s too late for me to switch over to Gwen’s identity.”

David hummed thoughtfully, “Well, I guess we could use my parent’s address.”

“Your parents? Seriously?” Max teased.

“Well, it’s the only other place I really ‘live’ at. And I could easily forward my mail to that address if you need me too.” David shrugged, standing up. He pulled out a sticky note and a pen, writing down the address from memory, and about how many rooms it had on it before handing it back to Max. “Do you think that would work?”

“I guess I’ll have to see. Later David.” Max took the slip and immediately bounded out of the room, leaving David to clean up the mess Max had left behind.

“If you need something forwarded just let me know.” David called after him, and then sighed happily. It was nice to see Max actually invested in something- even if that something happened to be stealing his identity.  

Honestly David didn’t feel anxious anymore about this little project Max had going on. He would find out what Max was up to eventually, and deal with the consequences then. Until then he would let the kid have some fun.

Things were starting to turn for the better as far as his and Max’s relationship went. But that didn’t mean it would be an immediate change. He hoped giving Max this address would calm him down a bit so he could enjoy the last few weeks of summer with his friends. David hummed happily as he started picking up and arranging his things, not being able to help the genuine smile on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Let's keep the ball rolling on this thing! Reviews are always welcome!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> David always cried when he dropped the kids off back with their parents. it was just such an emotional time for him.  
> This year, however he didn't cry. Because one of the kids would be coming back with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own the characters. Cursing_vermin has officially become my super-awesome beta reader. So that means less mistakes overall. cause you know, that's what writing at 3 AM does. Still, mistakes happen and lets not get too caught up on them. just enjoy the story C:

# Ch. 3

Summer camp was coming to an end once again. It was always a sad time for David, watching the kids go was always just so painful. He much preferred the camp when they were here, rather than the off season after all.

“Are you guys sure you have everything packed up?” David asked a little emotional, as all of the kids gathered their stuff into a pile so he could pack it into the bus. Gwen would watch over them while they ate their last meal at the camp and give him time to pack it all away, then they would be off.

“Oh god if you burst into tears again I _will_ gag myself, I swear.” Max rolled his eyes, adding his red trunk into the pile.

“No, you will not.” Gwen put her foot down, crossing her arms, “Having David cry all the way from the bus drop off is bad enough without you making yourself sick over it. He’s going to cry so get over it now.”

Max rolled his eyes, and departed for the mess hall with Nikki and Neil, all three of them excitedly making plans to keep in touch after camp ended. Ever since Max had gotten hold of his information the kid’s mood had lightened incredibly. Whatever he was planning had to have been successful. David had been making ventures to let the boy have more autonomy as well, and things had gone… reasonably well. He had let Max plan a whole day’s worth of activates last week. Some tents had ended up burned down, and some of the more… less rambunctious campers had ended up a little shell shocked. But the boy had really enjoyed organizing his ‘no one never expects the apocalypse’ camp so that was a success in David’s books.

David couldn’t help but smile to himself as Max actually laughed as he walked away with Nikki and Neil, knowing that everything certainly would turn for the better for the kid.

Once all of the other children had put their belongings in the pile David started moving them onto the bus, careful not to damage any of Neil’s equipment he was taking home, or accidently spring any of Harrison’s magic tricks. Man would he miss these kids, they had certainly been the most interesting group the camp had seen in a while- he hoped they would come back next year. They would absolutely love all the renovations he was planning on getting done this summer. If everything went well he could actually get some cabins in, and maybe even some more permanent plumbing! That depended all on how wet the spring was, though.

David’s phone went off as he was loading up the bus, and he checked it to see he had a text from Bonquisha. An unexpected and completely unplanned friend he had made this year, all thanks to Max.

_Hey LR, what time are the kids being dropped off again?_

**3pm.** David texted back, **But I’m not going to be able to hang out afterwards. :C**

 _Man when you not working?_ She texted him back, _But nah I’m picking up one of your kids as an Uber ;)_

Max. The boy’s mother had emailed him the other day. Apologizing and saying that something had come up with work and he wouldn’t be able to pick Max up, but she would be hiring someone in the area to drive him into town. David hadn’t been that surprised honestly. He knew Max’s home life was a little lacking. At least David could relax a little now, knowing Max wouldn’t be spending the car ride home with a complete stranger, and would be relatively safe as well.

He confirmed the pickup time with Bonnie and they chatted a bit. It helped distract him with his usual end-of-camp blues. He was an emotional sap, he couldn’t help but morn the end of summer every year. It was so much fun having the camp full with kids, as opposed to having it filled with the odd assortment of adults and religious groups that would rent it out otherwise.

Soon enough the kids were done eating though, and after loading everyone up they were off. Camp Campbell’s drop off for the kids was not at the camp itself. No, the camp was much too far out of the way, it was better business to have the parents see their kids off in a more convenient location. Which was why they rented the bus in the first place.

The drop off was at a community center that let them use their parking lot in the town just over the mountains. The drive was usually thirty minutes, forty if a kid got sick. David had taken the drop off trip a total of eleven times in his life. Five as a camper, six as a counselor.

Every time he had cried.

It was just such an emotional moment for him. Parting with friends as a camper himself, or saying goodbye to the kids he had watched over always brought tears to his eyes. Sometimes he wouldn’t cry until the kids had all been picked up. Sometimes he cried during the ride and absolutely embarrassed himself.

This year felt like it was going to be one where he didn’t cry until it was all over. The kids this year had hands down been his most difficult group he had ever had. Even on the bus ride home they kept Gwen and him on his toes. Between Space Kid wanting to hang his head out the window, Nikki having snuck that annoying platypus on board, and Nurf wanting to get as much of his ‘emotions’ out before the camp ended- David was thankful that the Quarter Master was there to drive the bus. He certainly couldn’t have handled it all on his own, and Gwen would have been overwhelmed in no time.

“What ever happened to the days where everyone would all just sing camp songs and stay seated?” David lamented, holding a rather unhappy Space Kid under one arm and the Platypus under the other.

“That sounds like, super lame.” Max rolled his eyebrows and smirked, “Watching angry wild life nearly disembowel Dolf is so much more entertaining.”

“I beg to differ. Singing songs on a road trip isn’t boring at all.” David raised Max’s pessimism with optimism. He put space kid down into a seat with a jammed window, and wrangling the platypus back into the sack Nikki had brought it in. Tossing the bag in the back with the rest of the luggage and snatching his wooden guitar from the back if the bus, “here, let me show you! Oh~”

The collective groan from the kids and Gwen was expected. But David carried on anyway, walking back up to the front of the bus as he started strumming out a tune. The kids covered their ears and voiced their protests. David encouraged them to join in, ignoring their pessimism. Despite their protests the kids did settle down a bit once he ended the song and just took to strumming out a tune on his guitar. They only had to deal with one of Nerris' and Harrison’s usual spats, before they arrived at the community center.

As per usual a majority of the parents were already there as they parked the bus. Nerris hailed her parents from the bus excitedly, and Nurf shoved Neil out of the way to hug his mom- fresh out of prison- with a surprised exclamation. Apparently his father had not told the boy that his mom had been getting out for good behavior. It always amazed David how much some of the kids looked like their parents. Neil’s father was just as lanky as his son, and Nikki's mother would look the girl’s twin if it weren’t for the lady’s age lines.

David smiled as he unpacked the trunks and bags from the back, double checking that all of the kids and their parents got the correct items. It didn’t take too long, and thankfully the platypus was still hissing discontent from its bag. David hoped it didn’t escape from its temporary hold anytime soon.

David had just unloaded the last trunk- Max’s things, when Bonquisha hailed him from the parking lot, keys still in her hand, “Hey, Little Red!”

“Bonnie!” David opened up his arms and skipped out to the curb, pulling his friend into a hug, “It’s so nice to see you again. And you’re a driver now? That’s new.”

“It’s good to see you to David,” Bonquisha laughed, patting him on the back once before dropping him back to the ground, “as for the job… well, as much as I’m grateful for the job you got me… I think we both knew that was only temporary. And this Uber shit pays a lot of money. You’d be surprised.”

David’s smile faltered a bit guiltily, since he was kind of the reason she’d stopped working for the Freelancers in the first place. “Well, if you ever need anything just ask.”

“I know, I know. But I’m an adult, I can handle shit on my own. So,” Bonquisha clapped her hands and rubbed them together, changing the subject, “Which squirt is mine? I hope they like good beats, I just downloaded some new tunes and am ready to jam.” She looked past him to where the majority of the parents were starting to disperse.

“That sounds like great fun! I wish I could go.” David grinned, turning to look towards where Gwen had been handing off kids to their parents, “You’ve got Max. Max! Your ride-”

David stopped calling out when he did not see the familiar blue hoodie among the group with Gwen, or with Nikki and Neil’s families. A movement out of the corner of his eye had David whirling around towards the parking lot. Ready to give chase in one of Max’s escape attempts. He didn’t have to take off however, because it wasn’t Max.

Walking up from behind Bonquisha was a short Indian man in a very expensive looking suit and- _wow_. David certainly knew where Max got his piercing aqua marine gaze from now. The Man even had his son’s curly hair, however most of it was trimmed down and tamed with hair gel to look more professional. The effect was intimidating.

“Hello, Mr. –oh, uhm? What’s the box for?” David went from a friendly greeting to tentatively confused as the man approached him. He did not look happy, and was carrying a rather large box. A box he dropped onto the ground without too much consideration, causing the top to open just a bit.

“It’s for the brat of course.” Max evidently learned his dry tone from his father. The man opened his suit jacket to pull out a pack of papers, “I figured that if I had to have you sign the final paperwork I might as well drop off his junk as well. _I_ certainly don’t need it.”

“I’m… excuse me, but what?” David’s gaze jumped from the papers to the box at his feet. Inside the box was a mixture of children’s clothes, some toys and what looked to be a back pack with school supplies inside of it. He felt the smile slide off his face when he recognized one of the many blue hoodies that belonged to Max was stuffed inside the box. Max’s… things? Drop off?

 _A change in the family_. The black stains on his tea saucer echoed in his mind, making the smile slide off of his face.

“David, is something going on?” Gwen asked, walking up and looking confused.

“Suit Man’s being crazy.” Bonquisha supplied, crossing her arms and moving to stand beside him. Max’s father gave her an unamused glare, “What you want to go? I will fight you.”

“No one’s fighting anyone,” David place a firm hand on her arm, and turned partially towards his coworker, “Gwen, where’s Max?”

“Max said he forgot something on the bus. But then was refusing to get off,” Gwen explained, hiking her thumb back towards the vehicle, “The Quarter Master-” just as she spoke the older man opened the back door of the bus, knocking David harshly in the back of his head.  “AHHH!”

The older man appeared at the back door of the bus holding Max up by the hood of his jacket.

 “Let me go you mother fu-“ “Got ‘em.”

“ _Maximillian_.” The name was spoken with only the tone a very angry parent could use, and it had an effect David hadn’t expected. Max didn’t freeze so much as lock up. Ceasing in his attempts to get out of the Quarter Master’s grip and just hang there like a dead rabbit on a snare.

“What is the meaning of all this?” the man spoke like he was some kind of mob boss, ready to smack one of his underlings for disobedience. “Must you always cause a scene?”

“Shouldn’t you be taking interviews for your next trophy wife?” Max lashed out with his usual scathing tone.

“Max, that is not a very nice thing to say.” David reprimanded before Max’s father could say anything- the man looked absolutely furious at his son’s words. David made sure to stand between the two as he picked Max up off of the Quarter Master’s hook and set him on the ground. He kneeled down with the child and kept him from running by keeping one hand firmly on a shoulder. The other he used to fix Max’s hoodie and wipe off some dust- judging by the amount there it looked like Max had been trying to hide under the bus seats or something.

“Now, there seems to be some misunderstanding here.” David spoke gently, staying on Max’s level but turning to speak to Max’s father, “I was told that Max would be taking an Uber home.”

“Is that so?” the man raised an eyebrow. Max’s shoulders tensed under David’s hands, “and what else did my son tell you?”

“That’s…” David faltered. Not really sure what to say.

Max’s father raised up his chin, rolling up the papers in his hand before tucking them back into his suit. From the way he was standing his shadow was falling over the two of them. The effect was intimidating, especially with his near iridescent eyes. Maybe the man was a mafia boss. David had met mafia leaders that looked less up to the job. “I see. I’m sorry for the misunderstanding. My schedule changed at the last second. I will be-”

“David! Don’t fall for it!” Nikki interrupted. A good portion of the parents had stopped with the kids to watch the exchange, or the kids had stopped and the parents had stopped in turn. The adventure loving girl broke away from her mother and ran over to Max, practically tackling her friend. “You can’t let Max’s dad take him away!”

“Nikki! Shut up!” Max tried to push her off, but the girl insisted on staying. “No, you’ve worked too hard on this!” “Exactly, you’re just going to mess things up!” “No I’m not! I’m helping!”

“Enough!” Gwen commanded, making the two stop bickering, “What the hell is going on here?” She didn’t turn towards either of the kids, instead turning to Neil for an explanation.

Neil flinched slightly, but didn’t break from Gwen’s attempt at intimidation. Instead he looked over to his friends, and then to David. He clearly though about it, before speaking. When he did he did so directly to **David** , and not anyone else.

“David... Max’s parents were going to put him up for adoption because neither of them wanted him after their divorce. He- _we_ stole your identity and filled out adoption papers in your name.”

“You _what_?” Gwen asked in disbelief, rounding back onto Max.

“All we were trying to do is make sure that Max’s parents didn’t come to pick him up, and that no one would suspect a thing if he took a cab to my home. I mean, well he was going to live in my attic.” Nikki explained, as if that made the act any better, “But this way no one would notice he was missing until he had already run away!” she said happily, but deflated when turning back to him, “The papers weren’t ever supposed to be signed. So it wasn’t that big of a deal, David.”

“Then it’s a good thing I decided to come have them signed today, instead of waiting for the hearing next week.” Max’s father said a bit smugly, “I’m sorry for all the trouble my son has caused- he can be difficult at times. I’ll just take him home, problem solved.” The man stepped forward, reaching a hand out towards his son.

“Wait.”

David’s firm voice made everyone watching freeze in surprise. He didn't usually like using that tone in front of the children, but it had come out instinctually. David cleared his voice, softened his gaze and turned to look at Max. Who hadn’t said a single word for a while now, and had instead been looking between everyone talking back and forth over and around him with an increasingly helpless expression. Like he was watching his entire plan being pulled apart, like threads coming loose on a poorly knitted sweater.

“Max,” David made sure he had the boy’s full attention before continuing, “Do you want your father to take you away from here?”

“I-” Max’s eyes darted from his to the man that was most certainly looming over them. David figured the man might be making a gesture or expression of some kind. So David leaned to the side to put himself more in front of the man, eclipsing his influence.

“I’m asking what _you_ want Max, this is important.” David insisted, squeezing the boy’s shoulders gently, and made Max look at him again, “Do you want to go with him or not?”

Max met his eyes and searched them, as if trying to find out his motivations or intentions. “No.” Max spoke quietly, then with a little more strength, closing his eyes, and balling his hands into fists, “No I hate him. He’s a fucking control freak and the worst.”

“You will watch your mouth young man,” Max’s father made to take a step forward, causing Max too actually _flinch_. David had his answer so he rose to his feet, baring the other man’s way.

usually David was a slight figure, but he was deceptively strong and knew how to stand his ground when need be. It helped that he was a good head taller than Max’s parent. Standing at his full height, the other’s shadow only covered his knees. He stopped the man before he could get within reach of the child, Bonquisha backing him up. The man glared up at him, and David returned the look with a level face, not yielding. He extended an open hand, “The adoption papers, please.”

“ _Excuse me_?” The man asked, raising his brows.

“The adoption papers.” David said politely, but firmly, “give them to me, and I’ll sign them.”

“You didn’t even know about them a minute ago.” the man sputtered indignangly.

“I don’t really think that matters.” David set his jaw, and took a step forward, “Now give me the papers.”

The man’s jaw worked in thought for a second, looking unhappy. Just like Max did when he wasn’t getting what he wanted exactly how he wanted it. After a minute he all but shoved the papers at David. David took them and pulled out a pen from his pocket, pulling the cap off with his teeth. He signed the papers without reading them. Four copies, one for David, another for the courts, and then two each for Max’s parents. David kept his copy and handed the other three back to Max’s father.

“Well then, I guess he’s your problem now.” The man said. David watch him roll them up and put them back into his jacket pocket all professional like, recomposing himself. Trying to take back his cool and the situation.

David crossed his arms looking the man up and down critically. “Tomorrow you’ll look back on this moment and think it a victory.” He was speaking before he could stop himself, “but it will sour and rot into regret. Max is a great kid, the problem was him having to grow up in your cage.”

“Excuse me?” The man asked temper rising again.

“Look man, the papers are signed,” Bonquisha stepped between the two of them, cutting the man off from initiating a fight. “I think it’s about time you leave.” She cracked her knuckles, “David might have more patience but my temper’s pretty short. And I’m getting really sick of your attitude.” The man considered her with a sour expression, then David, and then turned with a huff.

Everyone watched him go silently, no one moving. That was, until Nikki jumped in front of them all, just on the curb of the drop-off area. “I would listen to him if I were you!” Nikki called after him, “He’s a gypsy you know!”

David face palmed, “Nikki, I’m not-” “Your self-labeling means nothing to me!” The girl accused with a pointed finger.

“Nikki that’s enough.” her mother snapped, walking up and collecting her daughter, “I’m sorry, she gets worked up easily.”

“It’s fine. I apologize about all the craziness,” David said not just to her, but all the parents that had hung around to witness the scene. A good portion of the camp in fact. Thankfully things broke up, albeit awkwardly. Nikki insisted on saying good bye to Max one last time, giving him a fierce hug that the boy clearly was pretending not to want. Neil did as well, and managed to convince his father to agree that at some point his friends could come over. Some of the other kids also came up to say farewell, and after a minute or two everyone was heading out to their cars and taking off.

David let Max have some privacy with his friends, putting the boy’s trunk back onto the bus, along with the box of things his father had dropped off.

Gwen joined him, hugging her chest and leaning against the side of the bus, “So… uh, that happened.”

“Yeah, I guess it did.” “Are you… okay?” “I don’t know… it’s still kind of early to tell.” David sighed, “I kind of feel stupid. I should have seen this coming.”

“David don’t be like that.” Gwen place one hand on her hip and raised an eyebrow, “It’s not like your psychic or something. No one could have seen this coming.”

“Yeah, right.” David wasn’t- well, not technically, but he’d certainly had enough forewarning. Max digging around and looking at all his records but not doing anything- clearly just getting the details for the papers. Having problems with a residency address- an adoption service wouldn’t accept a camp as a decent foster home. David had all the dots in his hands from the beginning. He just hadn’t connected them. David cleared his throat nervously, and took a steadying breath, “Let’s try and look on the bright side. Max will be back for next summer for sure! That’s something to look forward to, right?”

He forced a smile, but Gwen didn’t join him. Looking him up and down warily, seeing right through the smile down to his jittery nerves. “David are you sure you want to do this?”

“It’s not that big of a deal Gwen.” David tried to play it off, but that didn’t work out so well. He settled for honesty, “Well it is a big deal. It’s adoption but- Gwen. I don’t have to even consider this for another second.” David admitted earnestly, looking over to where Max was talking to Bonquisha, “I’d say yes again in a heartbeat. I don’t think this is a mistake Gwen. I’m nervous for sure, but you saw Max. He was scared- Max is never scared. I wouldn’t want him going back to that. It’s going to be hard but… this is for the better.”

Gwen seemed to think this over for a minute. Eventually lowering her shoulders, “Yeah… okay. I can see where you’re coming from. But like… what are you going to tell your parents?”

It took David a second to register what she was saying, and when she did he felt the blood drain out of his face, “… Oh.”

“Yeah, _oh_. Aren’t you guys supposed to go on some kind of cross-country road trip or something? Like as in _tomorrow_?” Gwen asked, keeping her voice down, “What are you going to do? Just show up tonight and bring him home like some kind of stray dog? Max isn’t a dog, David!”

“I know that!” David said firmly, “I just… well. He'll have to come with us. Maybe it won’t be too bad, he can meet the family. I’ll text my dad and talk to him before we head out.”

David gave her a small optimistic smile, Gwen gave him a flat look. “He’s going to strangle you in your sleep.” “- _Gwen_ no. He is not.” “I give it a month, at most.”

“David’s harder to kill than you’d think.” The Quarter master spoke his piece, apparently having been listening into the conversation the whole time. He was still inside the bus, sitting on his knee in the back row. “I give it until winter.”

“ _Guys_ , come on, have some faith.” David whined. They ignored him breaking apart to get onto the bus. David sighed wearily. Rubbing at the shirt tied around his neck he turned to look back behind him. Bonquisha was ruffling Max’s hair- much to the boy’s ire.

“Don’t be too hard on him. And remember- if you run into any trouble just call me.” The woman said, pointing to a piece of paper she had given Max. She gave David a two-fingered salute good bye and headed out to her car. Leaving the two of them alone.

“Why was she cryptically warning me that the camp might be attacked or something?” Max asked, deciding to break the ice with that.

David glanced to the side nervously, “Um, that’s a very complicated matter. For now let’s just leave it at… Campbell.”

“ _Oh_ so you do realize he’s a shady business men who potentially kills people.” Max turned to him, brows raised, “I’m surprised to see you can recognize that, with how much you worship him and all.”

“I do not worship him.” David rolled his eyes, “Worshiping anything is ridiculous. Like I said… it’s complicated. ” Max coughed something that sounded suspiciously like ‘daddy issues’ behind his hand. David let it pass, “I’ll give you an orientation- I mean explanation later. Gwen and the Quarter Master are waiting for us.” David indicated to the bus behind him. “The plan is that we’re going to head back and close up the camp. Afterwards-“

“Yeah see let me stop you right there.” Max held up a hand, “because as much as I appreciate you standing up to my father, and I really do appreciate that.” Max iterated unconvincingly, his voice laced with sarcasm, “There’s no way in hell that I’m going back to that camp. Much less living in it with you.”

“ _Afterwards_ ,” David continued once Max was done, “we’ll be going to my parent’s house.”

“Your parent’s house?” Max blinked as he registered the words, and threw out his arms, “they live in Texas!”

“Technically, yes. They’re up near Denver now for work, and will be moving back to Magnolia for the fall on Monday.” David explained, crouching down to be more on Max’s level, resting his elbows on his knees. “Every year after camp closes I usually go and stay with them for a week or two, help them move and then drive back up here. It’s kind of a traditional thing.”

“ _So_.” David leveled with Max, “What I was thinking. Was that you come with me, and you can meet my parents. Get to know them, and we can talk. About us, about the camp, what you would like to do. I don’t think my parents would mind taking you in- but living with them isn’t exactly easy. Living with me isn’t easy either, probably harder actually. That’s one of the thing’s we will have to talk about- it kind of ties in hand with the whole Campbell thing.” David scratched his arm, “I know this isn’t exactly what you had planned, Max. It’s unexpected for the both of us- but I want to make this work. We are _going_ to make this work, okay?” David said determinedly.

“And if I don’t want to go? On this road trip of yours or whatever?” Max asked, putting his hands in his pocket and hunching his shoulders. As rebellious as always, but his body language seemed wary that there might be some kind of repercussion for speaking out. Something David hadn’t really seen Max do before, but he figured seeing his father again was probably resurfacing some defense mechanisms in the boy.

“Well, I don’t know.” David didn’t shut down Max’s suggestion, “We could talk to Gwen, I don’t think she has room in her apartment but maybe we could make something work out- or the Quarter Master could take you. He has the room but… well, I wouldn’t say that would be… should be our first option.” Max shuddered, apparently understanding what he was getting at, “Either way that would just be putting things off Max. I’ll only be gone for a week or two and then we’ll be right here again. With the same options, the only difference is that we won’t really have time to get to... Know each other.”

“I already know you David, I spent all summer with you.” Max grumbled, scuffing his foot on the ground he looked off to the side, “but staying with Gwen would be too much of a pain and just **no** to the Quarter Master so… I’ll go with you. For now- oh **_God_** _do not make that face_.”

David put a hand over his smile and turned away, schooling his expression. Max pinched his temples, rubbing them as if to stave off a migraine, “David let’s make this clear now. I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to be adopted by you- I’m just really short on options here so I’m willing to work with you. So **please,** work with me. None of this sappy feeling nonsense and endless positivity. I swear it makes my life ten times shorter every time you do that nonsense.”

David was just so happy that Max was willing to work with him, and not just outright dismiss him. It meant that to some extent Max did actually trust him, and that all of David’s hard work hadn’t been for nothing. It was really hard to stop himself from smiling. He didn’t speak until he had it reasonably under control, “Okay Max, but only because you asked so nicely.”

“I’m going to go ask the Quarter Master if he can run you over with this bus one more time for old times sake.” Max said dryly, and headed towards the bus entry, where Gwen was waving them over. David stood back up and dusted off his knees, watching the child go.

The trouble had passed, and the change in the family had come. David felt the weight of the adoption papers in his hand and recalled the black tea staining the white porcelain. It didn’t look like the better would take too long to arrive either.

David boarded the bus and started their way back to the camp. For the first time in his life David didn't cry after dropping off the kids, but he wouldn't realize this until the day was done. Heavier things weighed on his mind in that moment. Like how he was going to have to change some things around at camp so it would be safer for Max to live there, and also rearranging things mentally so that three people could fit nicely into the small counselor's cabin, and not just two.

Not to mention how he was going to explain all of this to his Dad.

That one made him start to sweat and paw nervously at his neck. He liked keeping his head attached to his shoulders, mind you.

Yes, he certainly had some things to think about. Thankfully the ride back wasn't nearly as eventful as the one to the drop off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: thanks again to Cursing_Vermin for being my beta.  
> She pointed out to me that Max doesn't curse a whole lot mentally and I was thinking to myself 'man now i'm going to have to go and rewrite this chapter again'. Until she proposed that it could be that Max doesn't curse as much when he's genuinely nervous/worried about something. Since his over controlling parents in the AU wouldn't really allow for that kind of behavior. Be prepared for cursing Max in the next chapter though!
> 
> The story really does start here, I hope you kids are buckled up. it's all down hill from here.
> 
> Also, here are some tidbits that sadly didn't make the cut, but i wanted to share with you guys anyway. Writing a competent David really leads to some hilarious dry wit- and with the shadiness of the Campbell company in this fic it gets even better! sadly it makes people either act way out of character, or it effects the pacing of the chapter. we'll get into some of these arguments later in the story, i hope.
> 
> Scenario 1:  
> It didn’t take long for Max to actually start nodding off, though he woke up at some point when David’s phone went off.  
> “Hello? Oh, hey Dad.” David’s voice faltered a bit, “Yeah, we left the camp not too long ago. We’re going to get some dinner at the pit stop and be headed out in the usual way. Listen uhm…” Max turned a bit so he could look over his shoulder, catching David’s peripheral. It was dark and the angle was awkward, but Max could see that David was nervous.  
> “I know this is last second. But there’s going to be one more coming with us on the rig.” David paused for a bit, probably to let his father speak. David shifted in the seat, “No, not a friend. Well, not one in the usual sense… … his name is Max. He’s ten. Yeah... –no. Oh my god. No dad. I didn’t kidnap him.” David in fluctuated like he was a teenager and not a twenty four year old man.  
> “How many times do I have to tell you; I don’t do that. Okay, yeah but that wasn’t my job. I wasn’t the one who- I just had to take care of them while negotiations were- look can we not argue about this again, please?” David asked sounding more than a bit annoyed. “Max is trying to sleep and I’d rather not wake him up to us arguing.”  
> “Oh no, Max is already awake and hearing this shit.” Max said, sitting up in his seat.  
> (as much as i would have liked this the chapter was supposed to be ending, and I didn't want to leave you guys with a cliff hanger that went nowhere. Also, David says 'oh my god' here and he is a firm atheist in this AU)
> 
> Scenario 2:  
> “I know this is last second. But there’s going to be one more coming with us on the rig.” David paused for a bit, probably to let his father speak. David shifted in the seat, “No, not a friend. Well, not one in the usual sense… … his name is Max. He’s ten. He was one of my campers this year, but now… well,” David laughed a bit nervously, “well, now you and mom can’t bug me about grandchildren anymore.”  
> There was a very tense moment as the aftermath of the bomb came from the other side of the phone.  
> “What do you mean it doesn’t count? Mom- no put mom on the phone. It counts.” David all but shouted in indignation.  
> “David,” Gwen hissed, Max could hear the humor in her voice, “Max is still asleep.”  
> David all but ignored her, opting to continue to argue with his father, “what do you mean they have to be adorable- Max is the definition of adorable! He pouts and it’s like a grumpy cat asking for hugs- just as likely to scratch you but worth it all the same!”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summer is over, which means Camp is over. Max watches David, Gwen and the Quarter Master pack it all away for the off season and maybe... just maybe realizes that he will actually miss camp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own any of these characters. Thanks to Cursing_Vermin for being my Beta!

# Ch. 4

You know those scenes in TV shows and movies where people have their life swept out from underneath them, or something horrible happens, or whatever they fear happens and it brings them to some breaking point? Usually they cry alone in a restroom or car, sometimes they get frustrated and break things. If it’s a super hero movie often they lose faith in themselves- but they always manage to get back up to defeat the villain. In romance dramas the two love interests fight but eventually find comfort in one another. In sitcoms the best friend character helps them get back on their feet.

Max figured that with everything that had happened today, he ought to be somewhere about that breaking point.

His father had thrown him out like last week’s trash. Confirming not only how much of a dick he was, but also that he really did think Max was a lost cause. All of his plans to run away and start living on his own had been crushed. Inadvertently Max had basically signed himself up for a life of living in this shitty camp with fucking David for the feasible future. 

By all rights Max should be ready to have a mental break down, or be smashing lamps, or something. Feel defeated or frustrated and try to isolate himself maybe. Go find some quiet place to sleep and forget the world entirely. Maybe hang himself or something in depression.

By all the laws of social structure he had seen on TV and games that is what _ought_ to be happening.

His entire life as he knew it was basically falling apart.

He ought to be having some life-changing mental break down.

Max, however, wasn’t really distressed about it.

Like sure, having his parent’s just throw him away like that had hurt- but it wasn’t like he hadn’t known it was coming for months. Having his plans derailed sucked, and living with David was probably going to suck. But it wasn’t like he was too hung up on any of those things to cry or scream about. Things sucked, life sucked. Old news. Max could deal with it.

David had given him a choice to be here. Asked him if he wanted to go back home with his father, or if he wanted to sign up for essentially an extended Camp stay.

That was more of a choice than most adults gave him. Max liked David for that, giving him choices. This alone made David better than most of the other adults he had to deal with.

Living with David was going to suck. David was going to be super happy and positive all the time and try his patience. Max was going to live out in the middle of fucking of nowhere at the shitty camp. There were a whole lot of down sides to this whole deal. But at least David would take care of him. Max wouldn’t have to worry about following some insanely strict schedule anymore, or come home to a locked door and find that his parents had gone on a business trip and forgot that he existed again, or probably be yelled at for you know- being a fucking person.

Yes, David certainly was the better choice. So Max wasn’t too distressed or anywhere near a break down as he settled down next to David on the bus. Uncertain for sure, anxious about what he was getting himself into- definitely. But he knew that at the end of the day he’d be fine, and that though alone seemed to make all of those movie and TV shows overly dramatic.

Having your life burn down around you only ment you could build it back up again.

Someone should write that shit down or something. It certainly helped Max keep things in perspective as he sat on the bus, fiddling with some lose threads on his jacket sleeve.

Gwen was sitting in the bench in front of them, texting someone on her phone. Occasionally she would glance over to David like she wanted to say something, but she never seemed to find the words. David himself had paced around nervously for a while, before texting his father. Something about how the man didn’t allow phones in his shop and would have to call back when he got a minute.

Ever since sending the text he had sat down beside Max in their seat and stared out the window, like he was waiting for a guillotine to drop across his neck. The guy even kept pawing at it, fiddling with the scarf on his neck like he always did when he was nervous. It kind of made Max wonder what kind of father David had. He guess he’d figure out when he met the man himself.

“How far of a drive is it to your parent’s house?” Max asked, breaking the heavy silence of the bus. He was getting kind of bored just sitting here with ‘what ifs’ floating around his head.

“Three hours, but we have to close up the camp first.” David said, turning from starring out the window to face him, “and drop off Gwen. We’ll probably get there around eleven.”

“Cool,” Max scratched his leg with his foot, “what are your parents like?”

David was schooling his expression, but Max could see the wince in his eyes, “They’re hard to describe. Odd I guess, but happy. That’s what really matters in the end.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever met parents that don’t fight to some extent.” Max said doubtfully, “You’re probably disillusioning yourself again.”

“Happy doesn’t equate to perfect Max,” David said somewhat quietly. He didn’t care to further his point, turning back to the window. Clearly not really in the mood for talking. Max scowled at him, not used to seeing David be such a downer. Max sighed, slouching into the bus bench. It was a pretty long and boring drive back to the camp. He expected the rest of the day to continue on like this, but it was pretty fast all things continued.

The second the bus was off and the doors were open David was up and getting the ball rolling. Not overly positive David that generally started off camp activities, like Max had been expecting though. No David used a polite and level tone that despite it coming from _David_ had an air of someone who was certainly used to being in charge.

“Gwen if you could start on the tents that would be great. QM do you want to clean the kitchen up? Once you’re done we can deconstruct the camp areas. I’ll get the camp activities. Max, you can help Gwen or me if you want, but you don’t have to.” David clapped and everyone else piled off the bus like David did this every day, splitting off to do their jobs. Max lagged behind, not really quite sure what to do. So he ended up wandering over to the activities field where David was.

The small stage for magic camp apparently doubled as a storage area. Opening up like some kind of storm cellar once the back drapes had been cleared off. David took no time in opened the hatches by propping it open with two long wooden boards. Which kind of made it look like the open maw of a monster, which was cool actually. Underneath was a space filled with dusty wooden crates, the majority of which were empty, but those with objects in them were obviously supplies from camps past. David picked up two of said crates and started going from camp to camp, taking no time in collecting everything up and stacking objects into the boxes. Meanwhile over in the camping areas Gwen disassembled the cots, and then the tents themselves.

If Max had been inclined to help, which he wasn’t, there really wasn’t much he could have done but get in the way. David efficiently packed away all of the camp things like he was a professional Tetris player. There was just enough room in each of the boxes for certain items from each camp, and just enough room under the small stage for each of the crate boxes. It all fitting together like one of those complex wooden puzzles that Max wasn’t very good at solving- but David apparently had mastered. Gwen herself had a few mistakes in on the first couple of tents, but eventually found a working pace that had her deconstructing the tents like collapsible boxes. Rolling each of them up and stacking them inside the Quarter Master’s storage space alongside the cots.

It seemed like the whole camp was made to be packed away, and when the Quarter Master joined David with a box of power tools this idea was only reinforced. Each of the camp areas came apart like the simple wooden constructions they were. The two men worked together like a pit crew on a race track. Undoing screws and creating a wood pile off to one side.  Neil’s science camp didn’t take more than a minute to deconstruct, and then Nerris’ castle came down in only five. The longest thing to deconstruct was the skate ramp, but that was only because they were _constructing_ something else at the same time. David and the Quarter Master set the thicker beams aside on the ground and screwed them together. Creating a skeleton frame for a simple shack.

Once all of the wood was on the pile, and the furniture stacked up beside of it the two men raised the frames a side at a time. Securing them together with the screws they had pulled from the camp activities not but an hour ago. David walked around on the wood pile like he was a mountain goat, working from the inside, and the Quarter Master carefully raised the frames up for him to screw together. The made a rectangular the prism on top so the roof was sloped, and once it was up; so was David. Perching on the wooden frame with all the confidence of a bird. Repurposing some of the corrugated sheet metal used as roofing for the activity areas as actual roofing for the shack. The walls were painted plywood from Nerris’ castle and the skate ramp. Screwed into the corners of the frame and the other wooden supports.

“You’re not going to put in a door?” Max asked skeptically once it was all finished. Looking over the simple, but solid looking wooden shack.

“Nope, the whole point is for people renting out the camp not to get to it.” David huffed, wiping the sweat off the side of his face with his yellow bandana tied around his neck. He fiddled with his screw gun and the bit came off, he started packing it away, “and also to keep the wood and furninture out of the weather.”

“I’m moving onto the bigger stage,” The Quarter Master grumbled, walking off towards said stage.

“Okay! Have fun,” David called after him, locking the tabs on his power tool case, and picking it up as he spoke, “Alright, I’m onto the boats then. Max, do you want to come with me or go catch up with Gwen? She’s packing up her things in the cabin. You should probably start packing up too.” David said, wiping some sweat off his forhead again, it was pretty hot out. Even though it was getting late. It had taken only two hours of hard work to break down the majority of the camp. Max hadn’t seem time move so quickly before.

 “There won’t be a lot of room in the car. So you’ll only be able to bring your hiking pack.” David explained, “Make sure you have a change of clothes and some pajamas, along with your tooth brush. Anything else you can fit into the bag you can bring, but everything else stays here. If you don’t want to do that now you could still just hang out around here and just relax. I’ll be done in just a bit, okay?” David said in the sort of ‘sorry I’m so busy’ tone adults all seemed to have wired into them. He gave a small wave and headed down towards the boating dock.

“Anything?” Max couldn’t help but grin, rubbing his hands together as David walked off. He wondered how many of Neil’s fireworks he could fit into his hiking back pack, or maybe the flame thrower. It might be a long shot, but perhaps he could fit it. Max double backed to the bus, where they had left his trunk and the box his dad had so _graciously_ left him. He didn’t have high hopes, and he wasn’t all that surprised to find that the box only contained the rest of his wardrobe. Some church clothes and his winter shirts, and underwear. Not any of his toys, his skate board, or even his laptop. His father was probably burning them in victory right about now.

Whatever, at least there was one plus side to all of this. Max pulled off his hoodie and yellow camp shirt, discarding the latter and putting on a black t-shirt from the box, sighing in relief. He was so god damn sick of yellow. Max turned to his trunk and started fishing out his hiking pack when something shuffling behind it caught his attention.

There was a brown sac tied off with a cord on the floor under one of the seats. Max blinked at it in confusion, and watched it shuffle just a bit, like there was something- “Mwack,” Oh. the platypus. He’d completely forgotten that Nikki had snuck the thing on board. David must have forgotten all about it as well, and left it tied up in here.

Man it must have been stuck in that sac for at least a good four hours now. Max could relate, metaphorically speaking. He should probably let it out… but not in here. The thing would probably attack him or something. Max carefully grabbed the sac and dragged it to the back of the bus, fiddling with the latch before managing to get the door open. Max loosened the draw tie on the bag and quickly upended the bag, shaking it out.

A brown hissing mess fell to the ground, struggling onto its feet barring its bill at him. Max didn’t back down, staring at it unflinchingly. If Nikki had taught him anything it was never to take shit from an animal because then they would see you as something to walk all over. “Hey, don’t give me that crap. I let you out. If anything you ought to be grateful you little shit.” The platypus merrily hissed at him again before scurrying off into the bushes.

That over with Max shut the bus door- but then opened it again when he realized it would be easier to pull his stuff out from the back rather than the front. Max hastily packed his hiking pack with the things David had recommended, as well as his own items. Sadly the flamethrower wasn’t going to fit- but all of his fireworks did for sure. His knitting needles and yarn were a must- he wasn’t sure how far Texas was but at least it was something to do. He didn’t have a lot of other toys or things in general after that. Some of Nurf’s knives, his own knife, and a flashlight was always handy. Maybe a towel? No, David’s parents would probably have those sorts of things.

Max shuffled through his things around again but he really didn’t have much else- or much room left in the bag. He would just have to make do with this, he guessed. Max threw his bag over his back, and started the trek of bring them to the Counselor’s cabin. His trunk wasn’t to terribly heavy, but he wasn’t near big enough to carry both the trunk and the box- and he didn’t want to take two trips. So he slid both out of the back of the bus and maneuvered them to the ground. Max stacked the cardboard box on top of his trunk, and then dragged both through the sandy dirt to the counselor’s Cabin. A trip that didn’t take too long, but was kind of sobering.

With everything packed away and no one else around the camp grounds looked kind of… sad. Not in the run down way it usually was. Where once a handful of tents stood and served as homes for a dozen or so kids, there was just dirt and an empty fire pit. The activities field was equally empty, with only the stage and the out of place shack off to the side. All that was left of the wild personality of the summer camp was Nurf’s tomato garden. Looking quite lonely without the bully there to tend to it.

Max imagined this is what walking through an empty house felt like. An empty house you’d been living in for a while and felt kind of odd without a sofa here or a shelf there. Max dragged his trunk across the sandy pathway towards the counselor’s cabin and stopped just short of the camp car, the trunk open and Gwen’s boxes inside of it.

Maybe that moving analogy wasn’t quite as off the mark as he had thought. Max didn’t know how he felt about that.

“You’re not staying?” Max asked the co-counselor as she walked out with another box. He wasn’t sure why. David had told him some months ago that it was just him who stayed at the camp. But he couldn’t really imagine the camp without the sour faced woman.

Gwen already looked unrecognizable. Having changed out of her counselor uniform, she was now wearing a blue tank top and some black yoga pants. Her hair was down, and around her shoulders as well. It was a good look on her, she was kind of pretty.

“No, I’m sorry Max.” Gwen said, putting down the box into the back of the car and crouching down to talk to him, “Campbell doesn’t pay me enough to stay on full time- and well, they don’t pay David enough either but let’s be honest- the guy’s a squirrel. He could live off nuts and be happy.” She tried to make a joke, but neither of them smiled.

“I’ll come by and visit sometimes, but it’ll be hard with my schedule.” She offered. It was a hollow one though, they both knew this.

The cabin was pretty big for being so simple. It was a single room with two beds, a TV and some desks. Not a lot of anything else, with Gwen’s posters and personal effects cleared out it was empty and lonely, kind of like the rest of the camp.

Gwen helped him pack all of his stuff away, and showed him how the TV worked and killed some time watching some TV shows with him. Gwen was halfway catching Max up on a local TV romance drama when David stopped by for a second to get some clothes to change into after a quick shower. Everything else was apparently closed up and they were just waiting on David now.

It was weird seeing David of all people out of the camp uniform. A red and brown flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up made his shoulders look stronger than they usually were, and his jeans didn’t make his legs look as twiggy either. He was still wearing that stupid yellow scarf, but it seemed duller somehow, worn out and old. Perhaps this was because it didn’t blend in with David’s equally abused camp shirt and vest. He looked like an entirely different person.

This strange feeling in Max’s gut just kept building up as he watched David pack up his own hiking bag and put it in the car with Max’s own. Everything looked so different, everything felt different as well. Logically Max knew that nothing had really changed- but at some point it had. Everything that had happened over the course of the day had been building up to this point- and suddenly it all felt _final_.

There were his things, stowed away under Gwen’s bed and waiting for him to come back to camp and find nothing really there. There was the summer camp- not a summer camp anymore but just some cleared out land in a forest that tents could be pitched in.

This was all really happening, wasn’t it?

Getting into the camp car here as the sun started to set, felt way more **final** than the bus ride had been earlier that day. Needless to say Max hesitated as David opened the door for him, a small smile on his face as Gwen muttered some sarcastic comment as she buckled into the passenger seat of the car.

The smile shrunk a bit and became a look of concern as David realized Max wasn’t moving along at the same brisk pace David had set upon getting off the bus and kept up during the entire close of the camp. “Max, is something wrong?”

“No, I’m cool.” Max was waiting for the mental break to come- but it didn’t. Max felt kind of stuck, emotionally. Physically he didn’t let anything show as he climbed into the car.

“Are you sure?” David asked, watching him buckle up.

“I’m fine David. Just- I’m just a bit tired.” Max lied, avoiding his gaze.

David paused at the door, squatting just enough to be on level with him. He could see the guy assessing him. Probably trying to see how close he was to cracking. Ready to chip away at those cracks and make him admit how much all of this was actually getting to him. Max’s mother used to do that all the time. To make it a point that Max wasn’t as ‘big’ as he made himself out to be.

“Wait right here.” David said, a purposeful look in his eye. He took the three steps back up to the cabin door and quickly unlocked it, moving inside without even turning on one of the lights. Max watched him go, genuinely confused, and started when David walked out of the cabin. A pillow under one arm and a green blanket in the other.

“Here you go.” David leaned around Max in the car, putting them on the seat beside Max and returning to his position at the door, a smile on his face. “Make yourself comfortable with those if you like, me and Gwen will try to keep it down so you can get some rest. It’s been a long day, yeah? I don’t blame you for being a little tired.” David gave Max a warm smile before closing the door gently. It didn’t take him but a few seconds to get into the driver seat and start up the old car. The three of them hitting the paved road just as the sun began to set over the mountains.

Gwen busied herself with her phone as seemed to be the usual, and David hummed slightly to himself as he drove. Max watched them both for a bit then turned to the blanket and pillow beside him. The pillow was actually his- David hadn’t specified to bring it so he’d left it behind on Gwen’s bed. The blanket wasn’t. Gwen had packed all of the kid’s blankets and stuff away that morning and her own personal ones were in one of the boxes in the back. So it had to be David’s. It was the same generic one the camp offered. Green, old and worn with a rough texture. Max tentatively rubed at the fabric before bundling himself in the familiar material. He all but undid his seat belt, laying down on the bench seat and curling up with his back to the other two. It was the most privacy he could probably get given the situation, and initially Max did it for that reason alone. With the blanket covering him he didn’t have to school his expression as he tried to figure out his emotions or thoughts.

Max kind of felt stupid for a while. Just because David changed his stupid shirt didn’t mean the man would change who he was. He was still _David_ , not his mom, not his dad. It was stupid of Max to think the guy would do any of the shit his parents usually pulled. David wasn’t them. David was okay, everything was going to be okay.

Max start nodding off, only to become alert again when David's phone rang. Everyone in the car tensed up, or at least _Max_ did. Not able to keeping the frightened expression off his face. They had been waiting for one call all evening and this was it.

“Hey Dad.” David said warily. Pausing for a bit- probably to glance back at him. Max pointedly didn’t move. Too busy trying to keep his heart from pounding out of his chest. David, of course made small talk, “Yeah, we left the camp not too long ago. We’re going to get some dinner at the pit stop and be headed out in the usual way. Listen uhm…”

Here it was, the big drop. David telling his parents that he’d been stupid enough to accidently adopt a kid on some stupid whim. They’d talk David out of this and damn it, Max was just starting to accept that all of this was going to happen. His life couldn’t derail twice in one day.

“…I know this is last second. But there’s going to be one more coming with us on the rig.” David paused for a bit, probably to let his father speak.

“Of _course_ mom would know.” David sighed exasperatingly. Max was confused. David’s mother knew? How? When? Had the adoption services contacted them? He had put their home address as David’s…

David was speaking again, this time with a bit of a hitch to his voice. One Max couldn’t really pin point. Fondness maybe? “His name is Max. He’s ten. He was one of my campers this year, but now… well,” David laughed a bit nervously, “it’s kind of a mess. But it’s our family, what else can you expect? Long story short… he kind of stole my identity and filled out the forms himself.”

David really wasn’t cutting corners, Max grimaced, David laughed in a good natured way. Like the whole thing was _funny_. “But he’s a good kid. Really clever. Mom will like him for sure. So… you’ll have a bed ready for him tonight? What about on the rig?” David asked tentatively.

There was a long pause, and Max found himself holding his breath as the answer came.

“There will be? Good. Thanks Dad. Yeah, yeah. I love you too. See you soon. Bye.” David hung up his phone and set it back down in the console holder.

“Well that went well?” Gwen probed tentatively.

“Better than I had thought.” David admitted, and probably adjusted the rearview mirror so that he could see Max and talk to him. Just like all the drivers did in movies and TV shows, “did you hear that Max? Dad says he’s excited to meet you.”

For lack of the ability to speak, Max just remained still.

“I think he’s already asleep.” Gwen supplied, quietly, “poor kid. It’s been a pretty rough day for him.”

“Yeah, it’ll get better though.” David lowered his voice as well.

“Your parents must be pretty chill, to just accept this all so quickly though.” Gwen hummed.

David’s laugh seemed a bit self-deprecating, “Oh, it’s something like that.”

The conversation ended there and Max slowly relaxed back onto the bench seat. Neither adult noticing he was still awake in the first place. Well that was… a lot simpler than Max had imagined it going. Didn’t usually people make bigger deals about this kind of stuff happening? Max hadn’t seen a TV show or Movie where some kid kind of backed an adult into a corner and made them adopt them… so he wasn’t quite sure really what to expect in the first place. There certainly would have been yelling if his parents were involved… but David wasn’t his parents, and neither were David’s parents. Maybe they were chill, just like Gwen had suggested. Max could live with that. Maybe things were still going to be okay.

Max hoped so. He pulled the blanket closer to himself, breathing in. It kind of smelled like the fire wood David would use for camp. Not before he burned it, but when he spent an afternoon chopping some thick branches up with an axe to add onto the fire wood pile. It was a nice smell, a familiar one that gave him some good memories to ground himself in. After a while longer of driving Max actually found himself nodding off and even falling asleep for a while. Drifting in and out like the winding mountain road David was driving them down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we switch to Max's POV for this chapter. As a rule of thumb I don't try to put two character POVs in the same chapter, and I make the switch obvious when I do switch POV. As it is now we'll be following the Grumpy Cat here for a few chapters. Max doesn't cuss a lot in this chapter- some of you might notice. It's actually a character thing I decided to do. When Max is genuinely scared or uneasy he curses less because his birth parents really didn't like him cursing. That way we can have a sort of cue for Max's emotional state.
> 
> To everyone who wanted the 'alternate' scenarios I posted in the end note of the last chapter- those were never going to be used because they were too scene-breaking or narrative breaking. Still, very entertaining so I didn't want them to just get deleted and go to waist. 
> 
> Reviews are always appreciated. Chapter 5 will be coming up soon!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Camp is now closed up and Max is on his way to start his new life with David's family.  
> They stop for some food, banana pudding, and a lesson on emotional control.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own these Character. Thanks to Cursing_Vermin for being the best beta ever!

# Ch. 5

“Max, we’re here.” David’s voice filtered into his consciousness, and an arm gently patted his shoulder. Max opened his eyes, blinking as he turned over to look at David. He was leaning around the driver’s seat to wake him up.

“We’re here, time to get up.” David said quietly, though it didn’t make him any less of a dick for waking him up, “Come on. You want some dinner?”

“Yeah, just give me a minute,” Max grumbled, untangling himself from the green blanket David had given him. It had gotten wound up in the car’s seat belt and his legs, but a few good yanks managed to get it free.

Gwen was already out of the car stretching, and Max joined her, squinting in the bright florescent lights. They were in a gas station of sorts. He said of sorts because it was absolutely fucking massive. The overhang to keep people pumping gas out of the rain was really high up and expansive. Practically blotting out the sky. The parking lot went on forever, and when it ended the highway started. Max couldn’t make any distinctions of things beyond that parking lot. The light pollution caused by the overhead florescent was horrendous- and the world just seemed to kind of stop in a hazy black wall afterwards.

“Is this- a truck stop?” Max asked, squinting at some of the giant ass 18 wheelers parked off to one side of the parking lot, out from underneath the overhang but still lit up by some street lamps.

“Yeah, the old camp car takes diesel, and there’s a decent dinner here that’s open late.” Gwen offered, “it’s a good stopping point on the way out of town. Just… be careful in the restrooms. They’re pretty nasty.”

“Come on guys, who’s ready for some chow?” David was like an excited puppy dog, waving from the entry to the gas station.

Max rolled his eyes, “ugh, can we just like, have him sit at a different table? I’m still waking up.”

Gwen made an understanding noise, but guided him into the store. The place didn’t look too bad, but it was clearly old. One side of the long building was set up like your usual gas station, only with more selection isles. Kind of like a small convenience store you could pick up toilet paper and shampoo at. The other side was old wooden booths and tables with red accents and checkered table clothes. Black ropes like the ones you would find in banks designated where you stood in line, and David was waiting there for them once again like an eager dog.

Despite its old appearance, the place was filled with burly-looking men and women who probably operated the trucks outside. Some of them were eating in groups, others were eating alone. One guy Max stood beside in line was FaceTiming someone on their tablet and making kissy faces and absolutely embarrassing himself. On the other side of the screen was a woman with a little baby girl. Max's heart clenched as he watched their interactions from the other side of the roped line feeling a queasy feeling in his chest. Mom and him used to do that with Dad back when he was younger. They hadn’t for years though.

“Okay Max,” David crouched down, getting his attention, “so they mostly serve BBQ here, but they do have other options. Would you like some chicken tenders? Or maybe a sandwich?”

Max looked up at the cardboard sign that was half printed and half scribbled all over with sharpie, letting people know of certain deals or things they could add on for certain prices. He could only discern about half of it, “I don’t know, BBQ actually sounds good. I’m pretty hungry. Do they have good potato salad here?”

“It’s decent.” Gwen offered, as they shuffled closer to the counter to order.

“I’ll have a small brisket plate and some potato salad then. And some coffee to drink.” Max decided.

“Alright, but you only get the one cup. After that it’s water.” David said firmly, standing back up. It was their turn to order, and he stepped up ordering for both of them.

“Two brisket platters please,” David ordered, one of the ladies behind the counter preparing the food, “One with some potato salad, and the other with coleslaw. Do you have any pudding left? Wonderful, we’ll take two banana puddings.”

Oh fuck yeah! Banana was his favorite kind. Max hadn’t noticed it on the menu. He leaned back, tip toeing to get a look at the menu- he still didn’t see it. But David got two small Styrofoam cups of the stuff anyway. Vanilla wafers and all. David slid down the counter with both their trays to pay. He got a paper cup for the coffee machine a soda cup for himself, and then the two of them snagged a booth. Max jumped up to sit beside the window as David set both of their trays down.

“I’m going to go our drinks,” David said, picking up both of their Styrofoam cups. “You take your coffee black, right?”

“You know me.” Max wave a hand dismissively, pulling his tray close and opening the packet of plastic silverware that had been put on there. He was tempted to eat his pudding first, but knew David would complain about him doing that and ruining his dinner. So Max immediately reached for his pudding cup, pulling up a giant spoonful of the desert up and eating it before David could leave for the drink station.

“ _Max_.” David huffed, “You’ll ruin your dinner.”

“Stop me then,” Max dared, taking another spoonful of his desert pointedly. David rolled his eyes and walked over towards the drink machine, clearly recognizing that Max was just messing with him. Max had done this plenty of times at the camp and the guy probably knew it was better just to let Max be at this point. Max savored his pudding in victory, until Gwen showed up with her own food.

“You are such a child,” she scoffed, confiscating both puddings and keeping them on her side of the table.

“Buzz kill.” “Brat.” “Whovian,” “That’s not an insult.” “It is when I use it in that context.” “It’s not an insult if I don’t take offense to it.” “Why you being so defensive Gwen? Ashamed of your fandoms?”

“If you two are going to keep this up, I’m moving to a different table.” David returned and looked between them dryly. Max sat up a bit, perfectly fine with trading a few more insults with Gwen to make the other go away. David spoke before he could get another word in though, indicating with a steaming cup pointedly, “and I’m taking the coffee with me.”

“What!? Nooooo.” “Then promise me you’ll settle down.” “Fine, whatever. Just give me my coffee.” David passed over the steaming drink and sat down beside him. Max took a sip of the hot drink and sighed happily, actually settling down to eat. The food was actually pretty good, though that might have just been because Max was hungry.

He didn’t join into the conversation since Gwen and David were talking about boring adult things. He wished he had his phone so he could watch some Youtube videos or something, but the camp discouraged phones being brought to the camp because they might get dropped in the water or cracked. Max’s mom had taken his phone with her when she had dropped him off. Max wondered if she still had it, or if she had thrown it out the second she knew he wouldn’t be coming back. He’d have to ask David for one so he could call Nikki and Neil eventually. God he missed them, and it hadn’t even been a whole day yet. This morning felt like years ago. Max poked at what was left of his food tiredly.

“Hey, it is you!” a rough looking man walked up to their table, talking to David. He looked like the definition of a ‘country bumpkin’ and even spoke with a heavy accent, “I thought I recognized that old Woodie outside. It’s such an old and recognizable model. When I was coming in I thought ‘it has to be that dude’ and sure enough here you are! Isn’t it funny, how you can meet up with people like this. You never know when you’re going to see people again. How have you been man? Is your brother doing okay?”

David clearly didn’t recognize the two men at first, but when he mentioned David’s brother the connectors sparked.

“Oh! It’s _you_. Sorry, it’s been a while and that day was well.” David’s smile faltered for a second, and he forced his happy tone, “ _something_.”

“I imagine so, it looked like your brother had it rough. Is he doing okay?” “Yes, yes he is. Thanks for asking, and thank you friend for helping him that one time. I really appreciated it.” “Well he looked like he’d gotten into a fight with a 'coon and lost. You said you had to take him to the hospital. We didn’t ask at the time, but what was it for?”

“He accidently got into some chemicals and had a bad reaction.” David spoke tentatively, Gwen looking between the man and David. Max just propped his head up with one hand and picked at his food, not really taking interest in the conversation. “He is better now though.”

“Well I’m glad to hear it. Tell him we say hey and that we hope he’s doing better.” “I certainly will.”

The man nodded happily, and that was a good enough time for him to dismiss himself, but of course the man was a rambler. Nodding to Gwen and Max, “So is this your wife and kid?”

David sputtered, Gwen turned red and broke her plastic fork. Both of them hesitating to say anything. Max took saw his opportunity and ran with it.

“Oh yeah. We’re a _big_ happy family. Aren’t we _Dad_?” Max laid on the shit eating grin, leaning pointedly on David’s side. Neither Gwen nor David were able to say anything, dying from embarrassment. Max cackled, sitting up. “Hey _Mom_. You think you can pass me the BBQ sauce?”

“Now it’s not nice to make fun of people like that, son.” The truck driver didn’t fall for it, putting his hands on his hips and looking unamused. Max did an honest to god double take. What the- how did this stupid looking hillbilly see through him? This kind of shit always worked on TV-

“He’s right Max,” David seemed to find himself, “lying- especially for humor isn’t very nice. I’m sorry sir. Max I am disappointed in you.” David scolded, “No more pudding for you.”

“Aw- _what_?” Max raised his voice in indignation. Gwen moved the puddings out of his reach before he could grab at them.

“Yeah my nephew’s like that.” The trucker hiked up the bill of his cap a bit with his thumb, “he always imitates what he sees on the TV and stuff. Thinks he’s really clever, but he ain’t. So I guess you guys work together then? Sorry for jumping to conclusions.”

“Yes, we run a summer camp together.” Gwen said, surprisingly calm, “Max here’s our resident trouble maker. Don’t mind him.”

“You better mind me. I’m going to get my pudding.” Max grumbled threatingly.

“Max. If you behave yourself I’ll let you have one piece of candy before we leave.” David was clearly bribing him.

“Well then why can’t I just have my fucking pudding?!” Max wasn’t going to have it.

“Well, it doesn’t matter since you’re not getting any candy now. No cursing.” “The fuck?!” “Max, language. We’ve talked about this.” “I’ll say whatever the fuck I want you!” Max raised his voice, and started going off on the dude, cussing him out right there in front of everyone. Gwen grimaced and David’s expression became unamused. It was the only warning Max got before David picked him up, and with a polite, “Excuse me,” started carrying him out of the store.

Max shouted a few more explitives at David on the way out, making sure to get the attention of as many customers as he wanted. David didn’t want him cussing? Fuck that he’d do what he want. He started listing off the cuss words he did know, perhaps repeating a few as David continued to carry him away from the store front and around the corner and out to the edge of the parking lot. No one was out here but a couple of crickets in the tall grass.

David put him down, Max whacked at his knees a few times for good measure.

“-and you’re a fucking faggot with a stupid ass complexion I hope you burn like a lobster whenever you get a sun burn!” Max cursed, not quite sure how he had gotten to that point, but he had. Max paused to take a few deep breaths, remembering to breath.

David didn’t seemed all the perturbed by the insults, giving him a calm and level, “Are you done?”

“No I fucking hate you! I hate this! Why did you fucking sign those papers when you know I’m a shitty kid who fucking can’t do shit!” Max pulled at his hair and stomped his foot. Turning away before rounding back on David. “I hate you and your stupid bandana! And your fucking stupid smile and the way that you act like everything is perfect and dandy when it’s falling to fucking hell. You’re just such a fucking idiot you know? You could have seen this all coning! You knew I was stealing your information and doing shit with it and like- Nikki and Neil made some jokes that you would probably fucking adopt me if we just asked and they laughed because your such a fucking sap and would say yes to anything.”

Max’s voice cracked a bit. He was crying now. He didn’t know why, he was absolutely furious. “You’re too much of a goody-to-shoes to see how shitty people like me are. Just fucking walking all over you and busting into your fucking life like it’s not an inconvenience and going to fuck up your life. Because I am- I’m a shitty kid and my parents didn’t even want me. Threw me away to the first person who offered- which was just fucking _me_ using your fucking email and I can’t fucking do this David!” Max closed his eyes and buried his face into the sleeves of his jacket. Pressing his forearms to his face and trying to keep his sobs to a minimum.

“I shouldn’t just fucking take over your life like this. It’s wrong and unfair and shitty. A shitty thing to do, but I don’t know what else I’m supposed to fucking do. I’m just ten and I-I fucking can’t anymore. I’m done and I’m tired and I don’t even fucking know why I’m angry or saying any of this shit. I was fine like ten fucking minutes ago.” Max sobbed frustratingly, sniffing and wiping the tears from his eyes. His throat hurt from all of the yelling he’d done and his nose was clogging up now. This was why he hated crying. He was always such a fucking mess afterwards. This wasn’t how it happened in the TV shows. Usually there was some trigger or something- some dramatic scene. Max had just been… well, being himself and then he’d broken down. His emotions must be dysfunctional or something. He wouldn’t have been all that surprised honestly.

“Max.” David said gently, reaching out with his arms. “Don’t you fucking hug me.” Max took a step away from David, edging the line of the tall grass.

David lowered his arms. Respecting his wishes. But he didn’t go away either. In fact he sat down. Right there on the oily tarmac. Criss-cross and with a patient expression. “Then we’ll talk. Tell me what’s on your mind, Max. Please?”

“I don’t know. Why can’t we just like- go back to last week?” max grumbled, wiping off his eyes with his jacket sleeve again, “I didn’t have to deal with this shit then.” He missed camp. Max hadn’t really thought about it until now, but he did. Right then he wanted nothing but to be hanging out with Neil in their tent and drinking coffee and trying not to talk too loudly and wake up Erid in the next tent over. He wanted to watch Nikki harass homeless people she mistook for Sasquatch, or help her hunt for snakes by the lake.

But camp wasn’t there anymore. Neil was off at his dad’s and Nikki was back home with her parents that kept breaking up and then getting back together. Max was- Max was _here_. In the middle of fuck Nowhere Colorado at some truck stop with David of all people.

“This is so fucking stupid.” Max turned away to one side.

“It’s not stupid Max. Emotions,” David paused, taking a sharp breath, “Emotions are hard. They’re messy. Unpredictable. That’s why all the villains in TV shows and cartoons, they say that feeling things makes people weak, makes them vulnerable. Because they can’t control them and they’re still people Max.” David leaned to one side, so that from where Max was they could still make eye contact. “So they get scared, and they try to shove everything down or bottle it up or rationalize it all away. But that doesn’t work. Not in real life, and not even in fiction. Emotions aren’t something you can just bottle up, they’re something you have to temper. Allow yourself to feel, so that when the hard times come you’re ready for them.”

“That sounds like a lot of shit coming from you.” Max almost laughed, wiping his nose on his sleeve and looking away. “Mr. Everything is ‘Fine’. Fucking all the time, you know how annoying that gets?!”

David actually chuckled, half admitting that Max had a point. “Maybe so. But things do get to me.” David brushed his hands out on his jeans nervously, before clasping his hands together in his lap. He had a serious expression on his face, but he spoke in a gentle tone. Exactly like he had been when trying to light that stupid bonfire of his. It made Max stop and listen, David’s words suddenly having a lot more meaning to him.

“I actually have a bit of a temper you know. It takes me a while to calm down when I get angry, you’ve seen me get there once or twice. I also have a lot of pride. I think I do a pretty good job at what I do, given what I have. I like it when people recognize that. I get frustrated when they don’t. You’ve seen that too. I have emotions too Max, things do get to me. I just let more of the good get to me than the bad.”

“Sure I could focus on all of the little things that happen throughout the day, and end up worn out and jaded like Gwen.” David shrugged, “Or I could choose to focus on all the good things that happened and at the end of the day say it wasn’t so bad. There isn’t some base-line of happiness everyone gets each day, and that the negative emotions subtract from. Every day starts out at zero, and it can either go up or down from there. Like sure, it’s annoying when Space Kid eats rocks or you and Neil don’t want to join in on an activity. But you know what? I love doing stupid activities with kids. I love teaching people new skills, even if it something stupid like underwater basket weaving. I love being at camp and there actually being people _there_. I’m lucky enough that I get to do something I love doing for a living. Not a lot of people get that. So I’ll take the bad and the good. Put up with living in a dinky log cabin all winter and getting kidn- well- uh, having to do other things outside of camp just to keep it up.” David cleared his throat uncertainly.

“What I’m saying Max, is that’s why I’m such a positive person. Because I choose to be, not because I’m inhuman and don’t feel certain emotions.”

“And you’re telling me now to focus on the positive, and try to follow your example. Just to be happy all the time.” Max muttered unhappily, kind of angry that the explanation had circled back to such shit advice, “Wonderful.”

“No. Remember what I said about tempering?” David placed a hand on his shoulder, making Max turn to look at him. “I didn’t start off this way. I wasn’t born a positive go-getter that loved nature and hunting and hiking and everything you know me as. It took me 24 years to get to where I am now. 24 years, Max. I didn’t get that old overnight, and I certainly didn’t get to where I am now without falling flat on my face a few times. I lost my temper at inappropriate times, I got really hung up on stupid things and caused unnecessary drama.” David snorted in amusement, as if he was about to tell a funny story. It wasn’t.

“Me and my dad- I was convinced for the longest time that he hated my guts. That I was some kind of failure to him and I’d never live up to his expectations.” David looked down and to the side for a second, before turning back to Max, “and then just two years ago- _two_ years mind you- we got in this big fight again and we ended up talking and you know what? To him I was never any of those things. They were all misunderstandings and things I made up in my head. All this time he thought I was the one who hated him, and both of us were too stupid to just talk to each other. And now we’re fine… mostly. We still have our moments and as you so eloquently put it before I do have ‘daddy issues’. I’m still evolving as a person- and so is he, and so are _you_.”

“I hate to put it like this, but Max you’re _ten_.” David held his hands out to gesture to Max as a whole. Max met his eyes for a moment before looking down at his tennis shoes, “No one expects for you to have everything together. No one expects you to be taking this as well as you already _are_. And anyone who does is expecting way too much out of a child your age. There’s no perfected level of emotional control. My method sure isn’t perfect, my father’s isn’t, I would say your father doesn’t either. People who side step their emotions aren’t any better than those who meet them face on- everyone follows their own path and eventually figures out their own way to deal with their emotions. Even then you still see people break down or get stressed over silly things and even fall flat on their faces. Emotions are _complicated and they suck_.” David stressed, his expression dead serious.

“So I’m not going to get angry at you for trying to figure out yours. Or getting stressed and overloaded with them. For falling on your face, or needing some help up. Do you remember what I said to you Max? I want to make this work.” David gestured between them, “Whatever _this_ is. We’re in this together and I’m not about to go another thirteen years or so being angry at someone just because I couldn’t sit down and just talk to them.”

“You and your dad were really fighting for that long?” Max asked uncertainly, shuffling his feet nervously. David nodded, “You seemed pretty okay with each other over the phone though.”

“You were awake for that?” David seemed genuinely surprised, “I thought you were asleep.”

“I faked it… I kind of didn’t want to talk to you guys.” Max admitted, figuring he had already cried once already, and David had just laid his fucking heart out so it wouldn’t hurt a bit to be honest, “I was kind of scared. It’s fucking stupid, but I don’t know what of. You guys got the camp closed down pretty quickly and I don’t know... Things were just… moving really fast.” Max admitted quietly.

“Oh _Max_.” David shifted up onto his knees and reached out again for a hug.

“I told you not to hug me.” Max protested, but weakly.

“No. Greens end emotional talks with hugs. You’re a Green now, so that includes you.” David said somewhat humorously, pulling Max in by the shoulders and wrapping his arms around Max. Max made one last protesting noise, but gave in, because he kind of needed a hug after all of that. He felt emotionally wrung out and tired. Even though he’d woken up from a nap not too long ago. David’s hug was firm and strong, but not uncomfortably so. Protective. It was nice, and David kind of smelled like freshly cut wood- just like his blanket had. Max wiped at his nose with his jacket sleeve and leaned into the hug a bit more after deciding that it wasn’t so bad. David rested his chin on Max’s head, rubbing Max’s shoulder after a bit.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to overwhelm you.” David said quietly, “I guess I got caught up in my own pacing. I do that a lot when it comes to work.”

“It’s a stupid thing to get hung up on.” Max mumbled.

“It’s just been a stressful day,” David sighed, letting him go. David sat back down on his ankles, looking thoughtful. “Does being alone help you when that kind of stuff happens? Would you rather think things out alone or have someone to talk to?”

“Oh god, be alone please.” Max couldn’t have stressed it enough, “One time Neil and me tried to talk about all this stuff at like, 2AM in our tents after I had a nightmare. It was so fucking awkward. Never again.”

“Alright then, we should come up with something. A code word for when you need some time alone.” David smiled, but kept it at a mellow level. “That way if we’re ever anywhere public, or anywhere really, and you want to be alone-“

“I know how code words work David.” Max interrupted him dryly, “it’s a pretty widely used concept.”

“And they’re very important for communication.” David insisted with that ‘I’m teaching you something’ tone that was always annoying. Max rolled his eyes. David continued anyway. “So. Let’s keep it simple. Maybe a food or something. Like ‘can we have pizza tonight?’ only not pizza that’s much too common.”

“How about pineapple pizza?” Max offered with a shrug, “I’m not a monster so I would never want that stuff in particular.”

“I guess that works.” David took a second to think over it, “I don’t particularly hate pineapple on my pizza, I guess the whole point is for you to use the phrase and not me.”

“Dude, you eat pineapple on your pizza? That’s gross.” Max grimaced, and then smirked, “Forget your dad problems, I think we just got to the root of your issues.”

“It’s not like I eat it _exclusively_. It’s just something good on occasion.” David smiled humorously, reached out and ruffled his hair, “and wait until you become twenty and your taste buds change. We’ll see what you think then.”

“Psh, like that would ever happen.” Max grumbled, fixing his hair.

“I leave you guys out here for ten minutes and you’re already onto the discourse of pineapple on pizza?” Gwen made both of them jump. Neither of them having realized she had walked up from around the corner. She pointed towards the truck stop angrily. “ _Ten_ minutes, of that yak trucker rambling on about parenting advice, and you guys are talking about pizza toppings? Men really do have the emotional depth of a tea spoon. I swear.”

Max and David both shared a look. Max raised an eyebrow, “Well, what’s your stance on pineapple pizza?”

“It’s disgusting.” Gwen stated plainly.

“I don’t think either of you guys have had a _proper_ pineapple pizza.” David held up his hands in a stopping motion to both of them, “I know Max is a no for sure- but Gwen have you ever had my dad’s homemade pizza before?”

“I would prefer it if you didn’t bring your father into this.” Gwen said this like it was a topic that brought her a lot of suffering.

“Your dad _makes_ pineapple on his pizza?! See! There it is, the source of your Daddy issues confirmed!” Max couldn’t help but laugh a little. Pulling on the sleeve of David’s shirt.

“I’m telling him you said that.” David warned teasingly, “And then he won’t make a pizza with the toppings you want on it. It’ll _just_ be pineapple pizza for you. We _shall_ convert you.”

“I’d rather just have the fruit raw.” Max admitted, pocketing his hands in his jacket, “Pineapple by itself isn’t that bad. I just don’t want it with tomato sauce and soggy from being cooked.”

“Oh so you haven’t had a proper pineapple pizza then!” David grinned, turning to face her, “See you’re supposed to use the white sauce instead of the red-”

“Oh my god! We are not talking about this.” Gwen groaned, dying on the inside, “Come on let’s gooooo. I’ve spent enough time mingling in this god forsaken hell hole. I want to go home.”

“Well that sounds like your problem not mine.” David actually laughed, “You know I don’t believe in god.” Gwen aimed a kick at him and David tried to roll out of the way. Gwen’s foot still connected with the side of his hip and David yelped in pain.

“Asshole.” “Christian.” “Atheist.” “Fruitiest.” “What?” “You’re bias against pineapple so you’re a-” “David oh my _god_ you are stupid and lame.” The two of them traded back and forth like siblings.

“I know but we’re probably not going to see each other for a few months.” David grinned, rolling up to his feet, “I’ve got to get a much time in as I can before we drop you off.”

“I think that’s more of your problem and not mine. Mr. Lives in the Middle of Fucking nowhere.” Gwen grumbled, “If you want to socialize, then just move someplace that isn’t filled with dusty old people.”

David dusted his jeans off and then shrugged, “ _Or_ maybe you could just like camping more.”

“Or maybe we could get going already.” Gwen was becoming less amused now, crossing her arms, “Max is with me, right?”

“I’m still trying to catch up with the fact that David’s an atheist?” Max admitted. He had been watching them trading back snark like a tennis match. He had seen them do this a few times at the camp before, but they always stopped when they realized one of the kids was nearby or he was watching. Probably not wanting to make it look like they were arguing.

“That’s… not a problem is it?” David’s puppy like grin faltered a bit as he straightened his flannel shirt.

“Umm, No. Just kind of surprising. I mean, you never really struck me as one before.” Max admitted, but then thought back over the entire summer, “But then again I guess you never really mentioned anything religious. Huh, I just assumed. Sure says something about me.”

“I try not to talk about it around the campers,” David admitted, leading the group towards the front of the building. He fished his keys out of his pocket as he went, “the last thing I need is a kid going home and telling their parents that church is stupid because their camp counselor said god doesn’t exist … _again_.”

“You’re shitting me.” Max was laughing, “This actually happened? When?!”

“Yeah, you really learned that one the hard way, didn’t you.” Gwen hissed, grimacing at his pain. “That was like, a whole law suit, right?”

“It was my first year as a camp counselor,” David answered, “back before I took all my child-care classes and learned that you just can’t say whatever you want in front of children. They did try to sue the camp, but it didn’t get that far. Mr. Campbell’s lawyers can be pretty intimidating. That’s usually how these things go. Mr. Campbell grilled me out for _hours_ afterwards, he was _angry_.” David grimaced, “I was pretty sure I was going to lose my job- until I realized it wasn’t the fact that I had ‘been a bad influence’ on the kids that was the problem that was his issue. It was the legal fees. I promised to pay off the lawyer fees and he dropped the issue, even invited me to a poker game.”

“That sounds like Campbell. He was probably mad because you cut into his betting money.” Max admitted, Gwen and David nodded in agreement.

They all got into the car and hit the highway without much fanfare, David and Max deciding that they had eaten enough. Gwen busied herself with her phone. David tried to put in some almanac recordings but Max protested. So they argued back and forth about it to entertain themselves instead. David insisting the recordings could be fun to listen to while Max declared, while kicking the back of his seat, that David clearly had shit taste. This moved onto them arguing about music, certain TV shows (of which Gwen then joined in.) And concluded with Gwen listing off her ‘headcanons' about a certain show. Both Max and David groaning unhappily as the explanations required theory explanations and even more explanations as to how those came about.

The truck stop was an hour away from Camp. Just outside of the mountain range. Gwen's home apartment was 45 minutes down the highway. It was a decent sized college town with more buildings then any of the single-street shit holes they had passed through. Gwen's apartment was actually pretty nice. Gated with a clean pool, and decent parking. Gwen apparently roomed with some college friends her age, but they were out of town. Meaning David basically carried all of Gwen's things up the two flights of stairs. Max and Gwen taking a box each and then unpacking things. Well, he said that but they basically dumped all of her clothes into a washer and left what didn’t fit stacked off to one side, and then spent the rest of the time shoving the boxes of magazines and posters into a small closet.

“Why don’t you just keep all this shit at the camp? If you don’t need it here?”

“Because David would probably burn it.” Gwen scowled, “the dude has no taste.”

“It takes up too much room.” David shouted in from the living room, appearing with two boxes of magazines, stacked on top of each other, returning his voice to a decent level, “And you get new books every month Gwen. There’s no point in keeping this stuff there when you aren’t going to bring it back- I am not becoming the keeper of your magazine hoard.”

“I don’t hoard this stuff.”

David set the last two boxes down, pointing into Gwen’s closet. “Isn’t that a box from last year? And oh what's that underneath it? From the year _before_?”

“Shut up.” Gwen smacked David’s pointing arm away, and then Max on the back of the head, “And you too. Stop laughing.”

“No, it’s hilarious.” Max wheezed, and threw out his hands, indicating to the stack of but magazines, “It’s your _booty_. Get it? Like a pirate’s treasure. Only it’s a giant collection of Butts N’ Stuff.”

Gwen face palmed and David snorted behind one hand, “And now you guys are making bad puns. That’s it. Out. I've seen enough of you two for one year.” She started pushing the two of them out of her bedroom.

“Aw, are you sure?” “Yes.”

“Wait, I have to go to the restroom before we start driving again.” Max admitted, “Can I use yours?”

“Of course it’s just down the hall.” Gwen pointed and max went to relieve himself.

He washed his hands afterwards, the faucet making a loud running sound because it was cheap. He heard Gwen and David speaking from across the apartment quietly, and he turned the water pressure down to listen in. Curious as to what they were talking about without him there.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Gwen sounded uncertain, David didn’t. “Taking Max in? Yes, I’m sure.” “It’s a lot of responsibility.” “I look after kids all summer Gwen. It’s nothing new.”

“Looking after one kid isn’t the same as twenty of them… and raising a kid isn’t the same as having one stay here at camp.” Gwen said quietly, probably not wanting Max to over hear them, “and raising one at the camp? What if something happens? It’s dangerous up there.”

“It'll be fine Gwen. He won’t be alone, and I can take care of anything that comes up. I'm not saying it’s going to be easy, but it’s a change for the better. Everyone deserves to have a decent family. If not in blood then in the one they make themselves.”

Gwen seemed to concede, “Just… don’t get him killed David. Promise me that?”

“He might not even stay with me, Gwen. He might just choose to stay with my parents. But I won’t let anything happen.” David said quietly. The two went quiet and Max figured it was as good a time as any to finish washing his hands. He turned the faucet off and dried his hands off.

When he got back to the front living room Gwen was sitting on the couch and David was leaning up against the back of said couch with his arms crossed. The two looked like they were deep in thought for a second before reacting to him coming back in. David smiled and Gwen tried to. She ruffled his hair horribly as a good bye, and David gave her a hug. Both of them waving back at her before they headed down the stairs back to the car.

“Alright, this was our last stop.” David said cheerily as he buckled himself into the old car. Max had decided to move up to the passenger seat beside him, “How do you feel? Excited to meet your new honorary grand-parents?”

Max felt that uncertain anxious feeling welling up in his chest, “I guess.”

“It’s okay to be nervous,” David hummed, probably seeing that Max wasn’t exactly thrilled.

“David… this is all going to work out. Right?” Max asked tentatively, fiddling with his seat belt, “Not with just everything… your parents are really going to be okay with this?”

“Making things work isn’t about smooth sailing. It’s going to be hard. I’m not going to lie to you Max. It’s going to be something we’ll have to work at. But if we do this together it’ll work out in the end. That’s what working things out means.” David glanced at him as he stopped at the sign in front of Gwen’s apartment. Resting his arms on the steering wheel.

“And hey, I think we’ve been doing a good job so far. So let’s not quit while we’re ahead.”

Max recalled everything that had happened today. Then realized that today wasn’t over _yet_. He groaned miserably.

“I’m going back into the backseat and taking a nap. Prepare myself for the next round of ‘this is my life now.’” Max undid his seat belt and reached for the door handle.

“That’s probably a good idea.” David parked the car and waited for Max to get into the back seat and buckled back in, adjusting his rear view mirror, “It’s eleven now. We’ll probably get to the grounds by about twelve. I’ll wake you up again when we get there.”

“Just don’t play those fucking almanacs or whatever.” Max grumbled, setting his pillow and wrapping himself up in David’s blanket again. Without Gwen’s boxes cluttering up half the car he had more room to get comfortable, and he took advantage of that.

David started driving once he was comfortable, and though it took a lot longer for Max to nod off he did so eventually. Waking up when instead of steady highway driving David started having to stop at lights or stop signs. He didn’t stir until David stopped and talked to someone named Rebecca at what appeared to be a gate house though. Max rubbed his eyes blearily, sitting up and yawning.

“Did you have a good nap Max?” David asked, glancing over his shoulder as he drove slowly through a pitch-black parking lot.

“A full eight hours would be appreciated.” Max grumbled unhappily, “can I just meet your parents tomorrow morning?”

“Things might be a bit too busy for that tomorrow.” David admitted, with a grimace, “but we’ll try to make it brief.” David pulled into a parking space. The world outside was dark, with the occasional light post, and was surprisingly heavily wooded.

Max turned to look out the other window and saw what looked like camping grounds. There were some RVs and trailer homes. What Max assumed was a trailer park, though he had never actually seen one before. David got out of the car and walked around to the trunk, where his and Max’s bags were. Max unbuckled his seat belt and yawned, bundling up the blanket and pillow under his arms.

“Hello David, you’re finally here!” a cheery voice filtered in from behind the car, probably coming from one of the homes, “You were running late. I was starting to get worried.”

The Voice was vaguely familiar. Max frowned, wondering how that could be. David’s family had never visited the camp as far as Max knew. Maybe it was his brother? The truck driver had mentioned David having one. He did sound a _lot_ like David… but there was a distinct difference.

“Sorry, we just got behind somewhere along the way. How have you been?” David apparently knew the person, speaking friendly.

“I’ve been great! What do you mean by ‘we’ though?” The voice sounded _really_ familiar. Max turned around and picked himself over the seat, looking to see who it was.

He froze like a rabbit that had realized Nikki had spotted it.

_Daniel_.

There, standing just a few feet away from David was the man’s white-washed double. His clothes making him stand out like a ghost in the low-light. A steadfast creepy-ass smile on his face, and his hands folded neatly behind his back. The voice should have been a dead giveaway. It had haunted his dreams once or twice after the stupid hiring incident after all, haunted everyone’s dreams.

“Mom and Dad didn’t tell you?” “Tell me what?” “Of course they didn’t. Why am I not surprised?”

David sounded exasperated as he talked with the stuff of nightmares- well, besides the Quarter Master and other unspeakable things. Max stayed incredibly still, so that the man wouldn’t notice him-

He did anyway.

They made eye contact.

“Oh?” Daniel’s head tilted to one side, his creepy grin spreading across his face, “Hello there.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun-dun-cliffhanger  
> I hate doing them, but this chapter was long enough, and combining it into one chapter was like... 11,000 words. This was the best way to break it up. Sorry InterwovenThreads we allllmost got there. (and just for the record i did have this written out before you previous comments. plz don't hate me.)
> 
> So this truck stop is actually the same one David and Daniel stop at in 'A place i'm Welcome' the prequel to this story. The truck guy that comes up to talk to David found a pretty out-of-it Daniel in the restroom and helped him get back to what he assumed was his 'brother' since they look so alike. (Just incase you couldn't pick up on the context clues) 
> 
> Max is cursing more, which means despite his unplanned fit he is getting more comfortable with David being around. We're getting into David's eh... darker sides though so ( 6 , 6;) hopefully it goes well.
> 
> Reviews are always appreciated guys! see you in chapter 6.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max meets David's family for the first time, and unfortunately David forgot to give him all the warning tags that apply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it has been such a long wait for this chapter. Getting it all together took a bit of time.  
> If you guys are interested in the back story between Daniel and David in this story, check out the prequel to this story 'A place I'm Welcome'  
> Thanks a lot to my Beta reader Cursing Vermin

# Ch. 6

“Oh? Hello there.”

Daniel said, smiling creepily at him through the open back door of David’s car. Clearly a little surprised to find Max there in the back of the car.

Max took advantage of this and bolted. He went for the door, fumbled with the latch and planning to take off into wherever the fuck they were without looking back. The latch was what killed him, taking up a few precious seconds. That was all David needed to get around the side of the car and snatch him up before he could even take two steps out of the vehicle.

Max all but screamed as David picked him up.

“No! Nononono, David! He’s a killer! He’s going to fucking sacrifice us of some shit- run! We have to run!” Max yelled, torn between clinging to David or trying to get away.

“Max! Max, it’s okay! It’s okay!” David had picked him up from underneath is arms, but threaded an arm under his legs to keep him steady. Balancing him on his hip. Max opted for locking up as Daniel walked closer. Clinging to David’s shirt and pressing himself into the man’s shoulder.

“I assume this is what Red and Mrs. Green weren’t telling me about?” the man asked, tilting his head a little. He took a step closer and extended a hand, “Hello. I’m Daniel.”

Max all but flinched away from the hand, burying himself further into David’s shoulder. Thankfully David got the hint and took a step back, steadying Max with a hand.

“Max knows who you are.” David explained, “He was one of the kids at my camp?”

Daniel’s eyes slid over to David’s and Max could never put into words how much better that was.

“He was?” “Yeah, of course he was- wait, do you not remember?” “No not really… the whole day’s kind of a blur for me.” “I guess that makes sense.”

“Makes sense? A blur?” Max found his voice, spitting indignantly at Daniel from David’s grasp. “You’re supposed to be fucking dead! You- you drank rat poison!”

“Rat poison at that amount isn’t enough to kill an adult man, not at that concentration anyway.” Daniel informed Max, stretching his neck out a bit with a twist, “thankfully.”

“Then why aren’t you fucking in _jail_?!”

“Max. Keep your voice down. It’s _okay_.” David spoke in a gentle voice, taking the hand steadying Max to make him lower his grip from his neck onto his shoulders. “Daniel isn’t going to hurt you, or anyone. He’s been working with my Dad ever since he left camp. He’s sworn off sacrificing people- and actually been sticking pretty well to that.”

“Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that.” Daniel raised a finger.

Max could practically feel David tensing up with anger underneath him. David swore under his breath, pinching the bridge of his nose, “Damnit Daniel, you really aren’t helping.”

“Sorry... I know.” Daniel said, glancing at Max for a second.

“How many did you kill?” David sounded annoyed. Like this was a part of his job that he didn’t want to deal with but _had_ to. “There better not be any witnesses. You hid the body’s right?”

“No, well- I haven’t killed anyone.” Daniel curled back his finger looking to the side and losing his smile, clearly seeing that David wasn’t exactly in the mood to talk about this, “…yet. I uh, I wanted to make sure it was okay with you before I announced the ascension.”

“Oh, okay.” David relaxed a bit. Adjusting Max on his arm and looking at him to make sure he was okay before turning back to Daniel. “Did you talk to my Dad about this?”

Daniel gave a weak, uncertain smile, “He stared at me for thirty minutes until I backed out of the room. Your mom… said I should talk to you about it.”

“And you’ve been waiting out here for an hour- probably two wanting to talk about this without Dad breathing down our necks.” David concluded. Daniel gave David a sheepish grin and a shrug as if to say David wasn’t wrong. “Daniel, I understand but this _really_ isn’t the time to be talking about this.” David said, steading Max with his free hand. Max dug his fingers into David’s shirt but stayed quiet. Looking between the two men as they spoke. Half in a state of panic still- _because Daniel_ \- and half in amazement because- _wow_ _David is **actually** having this conversation_.

“I know! It’s just- well no one told me about Max, and well. Everyone’s been doing so **well**.” Daniel rubbed the back of his neck, turning away uncertainly. “I wasn’t even really planning on getting this far. It started off as just me talking to people about diets, and then they were asking other ways in which they could purify themselves- we’ve been going over the scripture and we even did a group decompression day at the spa! I just- they’re ready for the next step.”

“ _Fine_. We’ll talk with Dad about it.” David yielded, unhappily, “That’s not a definite yes. Just an agreement to talk about this further.”

Max kind of expected Daniel to jump for joy comically or do some crazy laugh like a cartoon villain. Instead the man’s shoulders relaxed a bit and his expression became genuine. Daniel looked more human and vulnerable than Max had ever seen any adult ever be.

“Thanks David. That in itself means a lot to me.”

“I know.” David said with the same tone he had spoken to Gwen with. He decided to change the subject, “Do you mind grabbing the bags? I’ll take Max.”

“Yeah sure!” the moment was over and David fully relaxed as Daniel went to grab their things out of the back of the car.

“I’m sorry Max. I should have warned you he was going to be here.” David said quietly, moving over to kick the door to the car Max had left open.

“Are you really going to let him kill those people?”

“Well, that depends.” David said steadily, not lying to him like Max’s mom might have done, but still speaking carefully, “On a lot of different things. We’ll… have to talk it over.”

“It’s probably going to be a yes, isn’t it?” Max tightened his grip on Daniel’s shirt again, “I-I’m not going to be one of them. Am I?”

“No Max. Definitely not.” David assured, Max believed him, but was still warry, “If Daniel every does try or do anything on you- you _have_ to tell me. I don’t care what he says. I’ll cut his head off myself.”

“Kind of like that one guy you beat up for Bonquisha?”

“Exactly like that.” David gave him a small smile, and adjusted Max up so he could walk easier while still carrying him. Max found his chin resting on David’s shoulder and, not wanting to look behind the man at Daniel, turned his head so he was burying his face in David’s bandanna. It smelled like chopped wood and the camp.

David froze, taking a small but sharp breath. Daniel joined them. David’s back pack on his back and making him bend over, Max’s bag hooked on one arm.

“While we’re on the topic of well… apologizing for not warning people.” Daniel had apparently heard them talking, but didn’t seem to take any offense to David’s threat or Max’s attitude. Max looked up to look at the man and make sure he wasn’t trying anything, “Do you want to warn him about your father?”

“Warn him about what?” David shook himself out of his freeze, shaking his head a bit.

“David.” Daniel said somewhat dryly, “Your dad looks like he kills people. And _I_ kill people.”

“He does _not_.” “If the kid thinks that I’m scary he’s not going to take meeting your father any better.” “My dad doesn’t kill people. Anymore. He’s retired, and not that scary.”

David said this like _that_ made it any better. David’s father killed people? There was another _Daniel_? Max bit his lip and debated his chances of escaping David’s grip and running. Not very good. His limbs didn’t seem to want to move and Max honestly didn’t want to let go of David, much less leave the man’s line of sight. David was _safe_ \- hell he was keeping Daniel off somehow, and it wasn’t like the guy’s father had killed him despite all these years. So Max scratched off escaping as a plan and clung tighter to David as the guy started walking. Not towards the homes behind them, but into the trees.

“You can say that because you grew up with him.” Daniel rolled his eyes, following after them. He spoke pointedly to Max, “Look, I know I’m not exactly a source of positive energy for you. A pretty big source of negative ones, I’m sure. But I really don’t mean you any harm and I’m going to warn you- because David apparently has this problem with admitting people have faults-” “I do not.”

“David’s dad is huge.” Daniel raised up an arm to indicate how tall, “Like, seven feet tall. And burly. Think of a lumber jack, and add on probably three more- probably a bear as well. He’s _terrifying_.”

“He is not. He’s a good person” David rolled his eyes, and stopped. Just through the trees was another path, one that ended at a wooden gate. There was a small light to highlight the area- but it was more for the other side than this one. The light filtering through the planks and what appeared to be ivy.

“He _is_.” Daniel insisted, stepping in front to open the gate for them. He had a key for the lock, and David’s arms were also kind of full of Max right now. Daniel opened the gate for them and locked it behind them after David stepped through from the dark wooded parking lot.

Into what looked like the fucking _past_.

The ground was legitimately cobbled, and the lamp post was years out dated. There were buildings and structures everywhere now. Old looking ones, like you might see in a medieval film with the white walls and the wooden trim. Steeped roofs and the occasional tower or whatever they called those windows which stuck out of the roofs.

The sudden change was jarring, and Max found himself swiveling around to look at everything. It was still dark, but the occasional lamp post provided some walking light, or a porch light that was on or something. The buildings were all crammed together, most of them sharing walls and competing for store fronts. All of them looked to be stores of some sort- but up top he could occasionally see a light on indicating that people were around.

The place looked so weird and foreign- but David and Daniel didn’t seem to notice anything was off. Not missing a beat as they walked through the streets. Max heard a series of cracks and turned to face where they were going- what appeared to be a T in the street coming up- only one side of the street was different. Falling away into benches lined up one after another on a small hill.

A stage? It looked like one. There was a group of people milling around on the performance area, talking to one another, holding ropes. Someone took a rope from another person and everyone backed away from them, and the cracking noises started up again.

That was a _whip_ \- the man was cracking a whip. It looked like they were practicing a performance of some kind, or one man was teaching the other tricks. Daniel and David walked on through the intersection like it was nothing, carrying him along. Max stared for as long as he could and well after they had left the intersection and rounded another bend.

Where the hell were they? This place was weird. They passed a few more people on their way, some of them wearing really old-fashioned clothes, others wearing modern ones like them. David and Daniel nodded at some people and said hey, but didn’t stop to talk. They came up to another intersection- this one without a stage sadly- and David’s house was apparently on the corner. It was a wide shop with two sets of wooden doors. There was a giant, really cool looking throne out front set between them, which doubled as the shop sign.

Red’s Carpentry.

Daniel fiddled with the key to one of the double doors since David’s arms were still filled with Max, and held it open for David once again. The shop inside was pitch black, but they didn’t stay inside the room for long. Enough time for Daniel to lock the outside door and open the back door to a larger work room. Max blinked to adjust his eyes to the light and all but stared. The back room looked like one of Santa’s workshops out of some Christmas movie. Only without the Christmas element.

There were weird carpentry tools hanging all along one side along with heaps of raw wood, probably to use. Along the other wall were some shelves filled with different kinds of carvings and figurines. There were a few toys, but not a whole bunch of them. There were carved birds and fish and bears and wizard staffs and wall decorations leaning up against each other on the floor like paintings at a cheap resell store.

In the middle was clearly the wood working area and Max didn’t like Daniel much, but he appreciated him a bit more for warning him about David’s father. The dude looked mean. As mean as Max’s own dad but _bigger_ and with more muscle mass and hair. It was a violent red, blood almost, and his beard matched. He was chipping away on what looked to be a cut section of wood with some tools, a chain saw sitting on the bench beside him casually like it was a cell phone. The man practically glared up at them when they entered, the hammer in his hand continuing for a few more beats until a sliver of wood came off. He looked back down to check his work, and spoke to it more than the three of them.

“Welcome home.”

Okay, yeah if Max had any doubts about where David had learned to beat a man taller than him upside the head with a chair they were definitely absolved. Because David’s dad had definitely beaten someone upside with a chair before. Possibly killed people too. Max moved uncomfortably in David’s grip.

“Thanks Dad.” David adjusted Max on his hip to keep him from falling. Max used the added height to wrap his arms tighter around David’s neck a bit better. David flinched, going stiff.

“Welcome home!” a gentle, amused voice came from the other side of the room. A woman walked in from a back door, holding a sturdy wooden tray filled with tea cups. She had blonde, greying hair and a kind face. David’s smile for sure- but David certainly didn’t take after either of his parents in particular. He didn’t look exactly like his mother or exactly like his father but enough traits added up that he was clearly related.

“Is that Max? I’m glad he didn’t get away from you. We would be looking for you all night.” the woman chuckled like she was telling some kind of inside joke, but not in a mocking way. She set her tray down on part of her husband’s workbench, and picked up a cup, “I made some tea for everyone. Not Max though, you like your coffee black, yes?”

The woman’s smile was gentle but the way her eye twinkled it seemed to suggest that she knew something he didn’t. She only had one eye by the way. The other was covered with a blue and green eyepatch. She offered the tea cup to him, half filled with what definitely smelt like coffee.

“Mom, he doesn’t need any more caffeine.” David said uncertainly, but didn’t stop Max from tentatively unwrapping his arms around David’s neck and taking the cup gently.

“Nonsense.” She dismissed David, “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Allison Green, David’s mother. Most people just call me Mrs. Green though. This is my husband, Church Green. Everyone calls him Red because of his hair. And you already know Daniel Evans. Not a Green officially but we’ve decided to call him Yellow. You can probably catch onto the color-themed nicknames by now.”

The woman busied herself around the room, placing a hand on everyone’s shoulder to introduce them one by one slowly and deliberately. Giving Max time to take it all in. David’s father grunted in a half-hearted greeting, and Daniel tried not to look incredibly awkward.

As she moved, some wooden stools and chairs magically appeared out of hidden nooks and crannies, making their way to the center work bench. David put Max down on a chair, and standing on it his chest was level with the bench top. David stayed beside him and thanked his mother for the cup of tea she handed him. Everyone got their own, even the big guy.

“Now.” David’s mother smiled as she settled in a stool beside her husband, just across the bench from him and David, “Would you like to introduce yourself, or shall David do it for you?”

Daniel spoke up from Max’s left, leaning over his cup of tea and perched on a stool, “Is there some significance… ?” he trailed off, as if not wanting to finish the question.

“Introductions are important dear,” Mrs. Green hushed him gently, and turned back to Max, smiling reassuringly. David did that sometimes- it was something he was used to and that helped.

“Um,” Max played with the cup in his hands. Perfectly white save for the dark liquid inside, “I guess. I’m Max? Jones? Well, Maximillian but I don’t like being called that… but it’s nice to meetyouorwhatever.” Max said the last part really quick, but slowly sank down on the stool until he was on his knees, and only his head and shoulders were above the counter, the coffee cup obscuring the view from across the bench.

David’s father had turned to look at him as he introduced himself and suddenly this was _really_ embarrassing. Usually he had more of a presence to himself, but between his base anxiety, the fact that Daniel was well, _Daniel_ and he had a strong suspicion David’s dad was also a serial killer of some kind. It was just a whole lot to deal with.

“It’s nice to meet you Max.” Mrs. Green said kindly, and then took a sip of her tea. No one else said anything, though Daniel offered an awkward smile. Max knew then that he had flubbed it worse than Neil did his big kiss scene. Was throwing up an option? He kind of felt like it should be. This was him. Introducing himself to what probably was a room full of killers, his future potential family. How the hell had he ended up here? David’s hand on his back was reassuring, but it didn’t help much. Max didn’t like everyone watching him. It made his skin itch, and this was all kind of too **much** he wished he could do something about it.

And it was with that thought, that he realized he could. Max sat down complete on his chair, pulling on David’s sleeve and making him duck under the tall work bench, their faces obscured by everyone else in the room.

“David, can I uh, can we go get some pizza? That uh- that pineapple kind or whatever? I- uh.”

“Of course.” David didn’t even need a second to remember about the code word, scooping him up again in his arms.

“Mom, you said you would have a bed ready for Max? Where is it? He’s a little tired.”

“I prepared a space over in my shop for you two.” The woman set her tea cup aside and stood up, “Here I’ll take him.”

No way in hell was Max leaving David’s side. David was safe. He dug his fingers into David’s arm.

“I don’t know…” David seemed to get the message.

The woman gave her son a _mom_ look. “It will be fine, and besides you three have much you need to discuss. Something you won’t have time for later.”

David hesitated and then turned to him, uncertainly. Max looked from him, to the old woman, and then to the two men sitting at the work bench.

They were going to talk about Daniel killing people. Oh god this was actually happening. David was… he was going to let Daniel- Max felt like he was going to be a bit sick. This was to much to process right now, he needed to get out of here. He needed to be alone and just think.

“Fine I’ll go with the lady,” Max mumbled unhappily, figuring that causing a scene would just mean he was in the presence of everyone for longer. He just wanted to get out of there- and David’s mother didn’t look all _that_ bad.

“If you need me, just call my name, okay?” David clearly could see he wasn’t happy with this. But set him down onto the floor anyway. Mrs. Green held out a hand, crouching down a bit to be more on his level. Max took her hand and allowed himself to be escorted out of the room. He glanced over his shoulder to look back into the workshop one last time. David’s father with his arms crossed, Daniel looking sheepish, and David sitting down between them like he _really_ didn’t want to be there.

“I’m sorry if you aren’t feeling very welcome.” The woman said, leading him into a living room that was connected to a kitchen off to the left, and with some stairs to their right. The place was mostly blue, but covered in plants, almost everything was made of wood and it was very… homey.

“It is always something with our family. I blame it on the color red. It is an awful color, and once one sees it enough they often forget that others exist.” She waved her hand dismissively, leading him across the living room and towards a door along the back wall.

Was she talking about blood? Max had a distinct feeling she was. “Are you talking about Daniel?”

“I speak for all of them,” The woman sighed tiredly, looking her age. She opened the door to the next room heading back- except that it wasn’t a proper room. Well, it was a washing room. Small and cramped with a washer and dryer off to one side along with a water heater and some cluttered shelves. When the door to the room was closed properly it revealed a stair case that was so misplaced it was something that had clearly been added onto the building. The wood creaked with age as Mrs. Green led Max up the stairs.

“What you saw at that table was someone who is sick of the color as much as I am. Someone who craves spreading the color, and a poor soul who is often the one that has to decide whether it is spilt or not.” The woman said gravely, the creaking of the wood only making her words more ominous.

Max hesitated to follow her up the stairs, “W-what about you then?”

“Me?” Mrs. Green turned and smiled at him, her expression sad. She turned away, placing a hand over her eye patch, “Well, I was an artist of sorts. But I have been retired for quite some time. I realized that perhaps my canvas was a bit too narrow, and I paid for it.” The woman lowered her and smirked, humorously before continuing up the stairs. “That’s a fancy way of saying another sniper shot me through my own scope. Funny in that losing one eye, I began to see the world for what it truly is, or what it could be. Come now. Your room is just at the top of these stairs.”

Max had so many questions, but already too much to process. He followed David’s mother up the stairs numbly, and walked into another room _full_ of plants. Emphasis on full because this place was basically like a hanging jungle. Jars and bottles filled with plants hung from the rafters, hooks and pegs. There were some shelves and a workbench off to one side, and this clearly had to be some kind of work room the way things were set up. Only this one seemed softer and more welcome than the one downstairs. On the front side of the building was a window in an alcove overlooking the street. There was a day bed tucked into it filled with comforters and some pillows.

Mrs. Green rearranged some of the pillows and pulled up the comforter, indicating that Max would be using the day bed to sleep in.

“Daniel didn’t remind us to get your things from downstairs, so I hope that some of David’s old clothes will fit you.” she said with a smile, and from a shelf produced an old white t-shirt and some sleeping pants. She set them down on the bed as well. Then hummed her way over to her work bench.

“Pine or birch? It wasn’t quite clear on which you would prefer.”

“What?” Max asked, looking down from one of the hanging plants.

“Pine, or birch?” Mrs. Green asked, producing two arm sized logs. And a knife. Max looked at the knife warily, but the woman didn’t threaten him with it. She dug it into the birch branch and cut a scar across one of its round faces, before handing it to Max. Max took it, and frowned in confusion. She did the same to the pine and handed it to Max- and he recognized the smell immediately.

It smelled like freshly cut wood- like the _camp_.

“Pine it is then.” Max’s mother took the birch cutting away and ruffled his hair fondly, “that should help you sleep better, yes? Is there anything else you would like? Some water or tea perhaps?”

Max struggled to find words for a while, ending with a dry, “N-no I’m good.”

The woman had already produced a water glass, and hummed as she set it aside on a table. Putting the pocket knife down beside it, folded up. “Just in case. I’ll leave you be now. You get some rest it’s going to be a busy day tomorrow.” The old lady opened the door to the stairs again, smiling back at him, “Oh and Max? It’s good to have you in family. It might not feel like it for a while, but we’ll get there eventually.”

With that the old lady left, leaving Max alone in her work shop. Which seemed like a really bad idea, especially since it was filled with breakable things. Max eyed some of the fancier hanging plants, but then recalled that people in this family were apparently _not_ above killing people.

If that wasn’t a deterrent to not act out he wasn’t quite sure what else was. Seriously how the hell was David related to these people? How the hell did _Daniel_ get here? Daniel was here. Max checked the door for locks- and when he saw that there was one he locked the door. As an extra measure he moved a chair from the work bench and wedged it under the handle. He picked up the pocket knife from the table and put it into his jacket pocket. After some deliberation (and smelling it several times) he added the stick of pine as well. The day bed wasn’t the most comfortable of things, but there were enough cushions and sheets to make it so.

Max got comfy, stared at the barricaded door for a while. Got up and paced around feeling anxious. He drank some of the water Mrs. Green had poured him, and tried to get comfy again. The cycle repeated until he was out of water and realized that he was much too anxious to go to sleep. Only he was super tired now and pacing around the room was too much energy. So he just sat there on the day bed, propped up by pillows and stared into the room feeling shelled out.

So much had happened today- or yesterday depending on how you looked at it. That morning at the camp. The drop off. Returning to the camp. The gas station, Gwen’s apartment.

He didn’t have a family anymore. He had a new family? Not one he’d expected at all. David’s family being a bunch of fucking serial killers or possibly ex-military had never been anything Max would have expected. Maybe a mother that was as annoyingly enthusiastic as David, and a father that was either absent or lacking. Something that would have led into the daddy issues David clearly had. Not… not _this_.

Max stared at the door across from him, not really sure what to think. Eventually that got boring and he examined the pocket knife he’d ‘borrowed’ it was pretty strong, and cool looking to. He dug into the pine wood branch a few times in boredom, and recalled all of David’s whittling camp ‘pro tips.’ He wondered how many of those tips he had learned from his father- an apparently pretty decent wood carver. Max continued digging into the wood. Shaving the branch away and trying to make something- he wasn’t sure at first but decided to make a fish. One of the carvings David had taught them months ago. The work was methodical- like knitting- so it helped him clear his mind and not think about the mess his life had become if nothing else.

Max finished the fish at probably the crack of dawn. With nothing else to do, he put away the knife and laid down, turning the fish over and over in his hand. It wasn’t the best thing in the world but he didn’t really care. The day bed was also covered with wood chippings, but he equally didn’t care. Max set the fish down on his chest and closed his eyes, breathing in the scent of pine that the wood chips had basically permeated into the pillows and sheets.

It was a really nice smell.

“Max? You awake?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor poor Max. Don't worry things will be getting better for you soon.  
> Keeping this short today since I have work soon and this chapter is FINALLY done.  
> P.S.: this was written before Max's teddy bear was a thing :C I kind of which I had known that was coming out. i haven't actually seen the episode because I don't have first and HOLY episode 7?! my personal favorite ship is DavidxBonquisha and its now cannon! *high pitched screeching and rapid stomping of feet*


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> David just hopes bringing Max home wasn't a mistake. Expecially since it isn't turning out so well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait on this chapter. Thanks again for Cursing Vermin's beta!

# Ch. 7 

Introducing Max to his family had been an absolute disaster.

David wasn’t talking broken plate disaster. First impressions weren’t so easily replaced or glued back together. Everything had been torn to shreds and David knew he would never get the pieces back again. He kind of wanted to blame Daniel for it all. The guy really should have had more tact than to want to talk about his sacrifices in front of a kid. But David knew that he himself wasn’t free of the blame either.

David had just been so focused on getting here and getting things done, peeling the bandage off so to speak, that he had forgotten to warn Max that his double was going to be here. Hadn’t even stopped to consider that Max would be scared of the man, actually. There was his father, too- who probably did deserve a few warning signs now that David had seen Max’s reaction to the man. David knew his Dad had the worst case of Resting Murder Face known to man, but that at his core he was actually a pretty nice guy. But David hadn’t really seen that for 13 years himself now had he?

David just felt so _fucking_ stupid about the whole ordeal. This feeling overwhelmed him as he paced back and forth in his old bedroom, smacking his forehead repeatedly.

Daniel watched him from the bed, legs folded neatly under him as he watched David walk back and forth across the small space. “You’ve got a huge negative spiral going on there, David. You should probably sit down.”

“Sitting down isn’t going to make me stop thinking about it.” David sat down anyway. The old wooden desk chair creaked under his weight, it being a bit small for him.

The chair had been built for him when he was Max’s age so he wasn’t all that surprised. This room had been his growing up, though that didn’t mean much. He had been shipped off to camp for most of the summer so he wouldn’t get in the way of the shop. Meaning he only spent one or two nights a year in this house until they moved back to their timber frame house in Texas. Meaning it was small.

The ceiling was slanted with the outer roof, making the room itself triangular. It was really more of a converted attic space than a proper room. The bed was sized more for a teenager than an adult man, as was the desk he used to practice his guitar at, and the single flat wall had been lined with old drawings. Mostly those of trees, clouds, and blue sky. A mural of papers taped to the single flat wall in an attempt to make the room feel bigger.

David had done that back when he was 16. The first summer he hadn’t gone to Camp and actually had to stay in this house for the full summer. The place had felt so claustrophobic he had personally sawed in the skylight and installed the window frame just to get a breeze of some kind.

He had really missed camp and being outside. He still did.

He hated this room.

Daniel had taken over the space and run with it the last few months. The wall mural hadn’t been taken down, but added too. A few improved trees replacing old and probably damaged images, and there were some mountains in the distance that were probably scribbled on a boring day.

His music desk, the one David’s elbow rested on now, had been converted into an altar of some kind complete with candles and a knife sticking halfway into a lumpy red mass David wasn’t going to try to identify. His clothes were neatly folded and laid out on David’s old book shelves, and his violin case was resting at the head of the bed like a cat that had found a new home.

The blonde looked all but at home there with a lap desk across his knees and a laptop to work on.

David was glad that someone could be comfortable in this cramped space. David certainly had never been. He honestly was only up here because his dad had that slant to his shoulders that meant he didn’t want to see David unless he had to, so he’d retreated up here out of habit.

“I know it’s probably causing most of the negative energy,” Daniel played with his laptop charger connection, clearly nervous, “But I’m really grateful you’re going to let me have the Ascension Party.”

“Daniel,” David sighed, feeling wrung out, “I’ve told you before and I’ll tell you again. All religions are cults to me. So I don’t _care_ what it is you do- just… I want you to be happy without putting us all at risk.”

“Which is why I’ll make sure that the bodies aren’t found for a while,” Daniel assured, repeating the requirements David had laid down not but an hour ago, “and I’ll make sure no one know I was technically hosting the party- and get everyone to sign those forms so if anyone does find out it will be me assisting them with a group suicide or whatever.”

“Once you finish typing those, let me look them over.” David scrubbed at his eyes, “Loopholes have to be made carefully.”

“Okay.” Daniel smiled, and went back to typing. David relaxed, taking in the new additions to his mural- which didn’t look half bad with some mountains in the distance.

“I can’t wait to get back to the camp.” Daniel spoke as he typed, “Being so close to a major city population isn’t good for you. The air is filled with negative toxins.” “You mean air pollution?” “That too.” “Are they different?” “Slightly.”

David hummed, and ran his foot along the carpet rug on the ground. Old and worn.

“You’re worried about Max, aren’t you?”

“Mom told me not to talk with him until the sun rose.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. My mom’s _psychic_.” David threw back his head, “At this point I just do what she says and don’t ask questions because it just makes things more complicated.”

“She’s very interesting. I’ve never seen someone with her gifts before. I’ve heard of them mind you… is she a…. oh what was the word? A gypsy?”

“No.” David groaned in suffering, “She’s Wiccan. A _witch_ if you want to be crude about it. There’s a difference.”

“What is the difference?” “I don’t know, it’s specific details I don’t really know a lot about.” “Can you… you know. Do some of the things she can?” Daniel asked tentatively, pausing in his typing.

David didn’t answer for a bit, avoiding the man’s curious look, “…Sometimes. It comes and goes. I’m not very good at it.”

“Because you don’t believe?”

“That’s what my mom says.” David admitted, “But she also says it has something to do with me being a guy. Girls ‘inherit’ it better. That’s how the culture is passed on. From mother to daughter. But something about firstborns and inheritance rights? I don’t know. It’s confusing.”

“You don’t have a sister though.” Daniel pointed out, “I guess that means Green’s the last of the line.”

“Mom says I’m going to have two daughters.” David grimaced, “It makes me kind of worried because she also mentioned me having children that weren't my own; and Max is apparently a thing now. I... kind of don’t want to think about that right now.”

Daniel made a face in understanding, “My dad really wants me to have some boys so we can secure our place in the church. You have to have at least three male firstborns to cement a place in our faith.”

“That’s a really odd requirement. What if you have a girl?!”

“He’ll be disappointed,” Daniel said tentatively, “but… he never had anything against my nieces.”

“Oh you have siblings?” Daniel hadn’t ever mentioned that before in the texts they occasionally sent to one another, “That’s cool. I always kind of wanted a brother or sister to hang out with.” David admitted.

Daniel looked down and to the side, his smile faltering a bit.

“Yeah. It was nice.”

They finished up the waivers David wanted each of the Ascension participants to sign- essentially making them each state that they knew the party would end in death and they were going into this with full consent.

The papers weren’t individual but in the format of a group signup sheet. Daniel would just have them sign their names as they came in and he would staple the waiver onto the front of the sheet after the sacrifice was made.

“I don’t know David, deceiving people isn’t a very positive activity.” Daniel frowned, shifting through the final print out.

“It’s to protect your identity and self, so that you can keep doing this kind of stuff.” David insisted, “Trust me, its small ploys like this that can get you out of a lot of legal punishments.”

“It’s kind of shady.” “Welcome to being a Campbell.” “I thought I already was one?” “Did random people come up and ask you if you knew were Mr. Campbell is yet?” “… no. why would they?”

“It’s an initiation sort of thing.” David played with his ear lobe, bored, “If anyone asks, you don’t know where he is.”

“And Max thinks I’m the evil one.” Daniel rolled his eyes.

David smiled jokingly, “Hey legal shadiness. Is well into the neutral grey zone.”

“If you –ah say so.” Daniel barely held back a yawn.

As much as David would have loved to stay up and swap stories, he was starting to see the tell-tale signs of tiredness developing on Daniel. From the strained eyes to the more obvious yawn. It had been pretty late when David had gotten to the house with Max, and it was only getting later.

He knew people would always insist to stay up with him and talk, make the nights shorter. David loved the offers, but after years of experience knew that spending a few hours alone with his thoughts was much better than ruining someone’s sleep schedule and making them suffer for it the next day.

He left Daniel to get some sleep and snuck down the ladder and then stairs into the living room. Neither of his parents were awake, good. The last thing he wanted to run into was a grumpy father at three in the morning.

David stopped in the small living room and sighed, breathing in the fresh air the plants always seemed to give the room. David was sorely tempted to go upstairs to his mother’s apprentice’s workshop and check on Max, but remembered that the boy had wanted to be alone. So David watered all the plants in the living room, cleaned up some wood shavings in his father’s workshop. Sharpened the man’s chainsaw blades, and checked the edges on his wood working tools.

The best things to do when sleep wasn’t your friend were to just keep busy. It was something he couldn’t do often at the camp. Gwen was such a light sleeper. His parents, however, had gotten well used to him moving things about at night and the noise that came with it. David checked the cupboards and made a trip to the 24hr super market, bringing back in some groceries. He was finishing mixing up some handmade blue berry muffins when his mother came down. Hair tied back in a bun and still in her night gown.

“Oh, it’s always so nice to have my Little Red back home.” She said fondly, kissing him on the cheek, and rubbing his shoulder, “it’s like having a house fairy move in and do all the chores.”

“Yeah well, hopefully Dad notices. I… did some things to sort of make up for last night.” David admitted nervously.

“He always notices, sweetie.” His mother squeezed David’s arm reassuringly. She turned to the coffee maker which was percolating away and poured herself two mugs. “I don’t think you two will ever get over your miscommunication problems. You're men, and you’re stubborn. But the love between father and son always shines through.” She mixed in a bit of sugar and milk into one of the mugs, and then put them in front of David.

“Now go give these to your grumpy eventually-to-be-son upstairs, maybe he’ll come down for breakfast and see that we’re not all that bad.” His mother smiled, her one eye twinkling, “I’ll finish up the muffins.”

“Okay, are you sure?” David asked, picking up the mugs. One certainly black, and the other just how he liked his own coffee. The psychic poured out a cup for herself as she spoke.

“Of course.”

David couldn’t argue with that. He finagled the mud room door open and closed it with his foot. The stairway up to the second workshop had been built by his father a year ago, when his mother explained that she would be getting an apprentice. Ren, an aspiring botanist, lived in a trailer outside of the festival grounds and commuted every day. He was working for his mom for a written recommendation and experience. Mostly he did the plant arrangements and worked the counter for her.

David hoped the ever so temperamental Max hadn’t smashed anything last night. The guy put a lot of effort into each of his creations, and it always showed.

“Max? You awake?” David asked, knocking tentatively at the door. There was no audible answer immediately, so he spoke up again.

“It’s me, David. I’ve got some coffee.” He offered quietly, “You want to open up? I think… I think we should probably talk.” David paused, letting out a tired breath.

This time there was an audible response.

“It’s black, right?” “Of course.”

The lock clicked open, and David waited patiently as Max moved something around.

The door opened just a crack, for Max to check the landing for anyone else. Before he opened the door more to actually let himself be seen.

The kid looked dreadful. Bags heavy under his eyes, and his expression strained. Clearly he had gotten as much sleep as David himself- but Max didn’t have years of experience in being constantly awake to help stave the side effects. He was also covered in wood chips? There were a few in his hair and stuck to his jacket. David decided not to ask.

“Good morning,” David smiled, passing Max his mug. The child took it, but didn’t move out of the doorway, looking down the stairs while biting his lip.

“If you want, we can talk through the door.” David offered, “You don’t have to come out just yet.”

“Don’t be stupid,” Max grumbled, and stepped away, letting go of the door with his foot. It swung open, and David was allowed to enter.

Max still locked the door behind them. Showing just how comfortable Max felt here. He had probably stayed up all night out of paranoia. Max didn’t trust his family, he probably barely trusted him.

David sat down in a chair and waited for Max to speak. Feeling much like a school kid that had been sent to the principal’s office. Max paced back and forth in front of him for a while, drinking his coffee and savoring the effects of the caffeine.

“So, how’d the talk with Daniel and your father go?”

“Well enough I guess.” David answered honestly, figuring this was the best he could do. Just offer the honest truth- and hope it didn’t scare Max further away.

“Daniel’s going to ‘ascend’ some followers he’s collected right before we leave town.” David continued, going over the plans in his own mind, “If we’re lucky no one will ever know he was involved. If not, then Daniel will be caught up in some legal cases for a while. … My father’s not too happy about it.” David admitted, rubbing at his neck warily, “but that’s mostly because he doesn’t want to attract unnecessary attention here at the fair. This is one of the main locations he works at after all, has been for years. It would kill his business to have to move locations.”

“So he was against it?” Max bit his lip.

“Instead of holding the party here in the woods at the fair Daniel will be asking to do it at someone’s personal house- not anywhere related to the fair.” David summarized, “That was the compromise we came up with.”

“Really? _That_ was his only problem?!” Max asked, incredulous. “the fact that he didn’t want it effecting his business?”

“It was a legitimate concern.” David offered plainly.

“Oh my god David, are you kidding me right now?” Max threw the hand that wasn’t holding his mug out to the side. “These are people’s lives we're talking about.”

David set his mug on his knee, “Look Max, I don’t think my father’s too happy about it either. But there’s a difference between being able to stop someone in the moment, and being able to change their minds for good. If we say no to Daniel now, he’s just going to ask again- and eventually he will stop asking and do it behind our backs.”

“Trying to change people at their core only breaks people Max. You can’t rebuild them. It’s just not worth it to convince him to change his religion.” David offered a shrug, “And in the long run who’s going to be happy in the end? Him who’s been forced to see things your way and is unhappy for it. Or You? Who’s put so much time and energy into something and ending back where you started only now you two are frustrated and angry with one another.”

“The point is that Daniel’s fine as he is.”  David waved his mug in a dismissive manner, “Sure, he has some… we’ll call them eccentric hobbies. But he’s not a bad person once you get to know him. He genuinely wants the best for people, wants them to experience the ‘positive energies’ he goes on about, and for people to stop bogging their lives down with negative things.”

“You’re really not kidding.” Max took a step backwards as if he hadn’t wanted to believe it. “Jesus you’re really going to go through with this.”

“Yes Max. I am.” David admitted quietly, “but that doesn’t mean I’m going to let him kill you, or me or any of our friends for that matter. There are lines drawn out, Daniel knows this. All of the people going to his sacrifice are adults who know what they’re getting into, who _want_ to be there.”

“I have no idea why they would be- I’ve always thought believing in something enough to die is a pretty stupid concept.” David admitted forwardly, “It’s not something I really understand. But hey, if a ten people want to mass suicide together and let Daniel hack away at them, good for them. I guess. It’s none of my business except for the fact that Daniel didn’t want to do it without our permission since we’re hiding him from the police and all that.”

David sighed tiredly swirling his coffee in his mug, “I don’t know Max. It’s just easier to let him do it than to not let him. Does that make sense? I kind of lost track of the point I was trying to make here.”

David drank a bit of his coffee and figured it would be a good point to shut up and just let Max think.

The boy was seemed frightened and confused at the same time. Backing up a bit, but only to place his mug on one of the plant boxes. He looked from them to David, and then back to them for several minutes.

“And your parents?” Max asked tentatively.

“What about them?”

“Do they… do they kill people too?”

“Not anymore.” David felt like maybe more of an explanation was needed, “They used to be mercenaries. Essentially military, just not for the government. They were paid soldiers. They were part of an organization called the Blue Team. I honestly don’t really know a lot about what they did. Mom and Dad met each other there, but once Mom got injured they both took a break to recover. I was born pretty soon after, and then dad’s business took off. They don’t like to talk about it a lot. It’s something they’ve put behind them. They’re not serial killers or anything like Daniel. They don’t like hurting people if they can avoid it.”

“And… what about you?” David could almost feel the uneasiness in Max’s voice as he fiddled around with his mug. “Have you… have you ever killed anyone?”

David met Max’s gaze and sighed.

“You can say I’m lucky in a way. I don’t often see the results in the things I do. Have I killed someone before? No, I haven’t pulled the trigger myself- but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t behind the gun in some way.” David took a sip of his coffee, “It’s hard to explain. Mr. Campbell’s company isn’t exactly clean. You’ve guessed at that a few times already- and well it’s pretty _obvious_. Sometimes people come looking for him, or sometimes he makes people really mad and they want to hurt the company in some way.” David pressed a hand to his neck, running a finger along the scars underneath.

“Sometimes it’s my job to deal with those issues.” David took a shaky breath. He cleared his throat, looking down at the dark liquid in his hand, “I make problems go away.”

“You decide if blood gets spilt.” Max said, as if remembering something.

“I’m sorry?” David looked up from his coffee. Max grimaced. “Something your mother said last night.” “Right.” David hummed in understanding.

The room was silent for a long time. Something David was grateful for as he recomposed himself. He always hated dwelling on the darker parts of his job. He really didn’t like thinking about it, or talking about it for that matter. But Max had asked, so he was going to answer.

Max himself seemed to be taking all of this in. Clearly not sure what to make of all the information. He looked dead tired, that probably wasn’t helping with thinking all of these things through. David finished his coffee slowly, giving the boy time. When he was done he set his coffee mug aside gently. The boy looked like he really needed a hug so he moved down to his knees and wrapped them around the small boy. Max didn’t hug back, but he didn’t struggle either. He looked like a grumpy cat that was growling before lashing out.

David squeezed a little tighter, “Max. I know this stuff is heavy, but it’s going to be _okay_.”

David let go of Max, holding him at arm’s length, “These are the kinds of things we need to talk about. Look my job it’s… complicated. So are my parents. Daniel’s simpler but that doesn’t make it easy.” David smiled gently, picking some of the wood shavings off of Max’s shoulders. Where in the world had these things come from? They were everywhere.

David dusted Max off and picked a few out of his hair as he spoke, “You may be learning all this new stuff about me- but that doesn’t change who I am. I’m still _me_. Stupid, optimistic dude who likes camping more than breathing and I’m still determined to make this work. If you ever want to go try living with Gwen, or talk to Nikki’s parents or maybe find someone else we can still do that. I didn’t mean to drop you into everything like this. I wanted to bring it up slowly but, well,” David took a deep breath, “life never really comes out how you plan it too. You’ve got nothing to worry about, none of us are out to get you, nor are we going to be.”

David attempted a joke, “If anything this just means you have four people who are _really_ good at hiding bodies if you ever need them.”

“Oh really _?_ ” Max asked, and a small mischievous glint showed up in his eyes. Oh, Max would be remembering this promise for a long time.

“Of course.” David didn’t hope Max would ever have to cash in on it. Still, he’d be there in a heartbeat if it ever came up. He picked a few more flecks of sawdust out of Max’s hair, and frowned.

“Okay, this stuff is seriously bugging me.” David scowled, holding up a fleck of the wood, “why? What on earth did you get into?”

“Uh,” Max glanced sideways towards the day bed. David turned, and took in the absolute mess of wooden chips in the blankets and throw pillows.

“ _Max_.” “It was your mom’s idea!” Max defended, somewhat embarrassed.

David held up his hands, “Say no more. I question nothing then.” he dusted a few of the chips off of himself as he stood up, “We’ll clean this up later, I guess. It smells like Mom’s pulling the muffins I made out of the oven, do you want to come downstairs for breakfast? Or maybe I can bring you something up? If you feel like being alone still.”

Max fiddled with something in his jacket pocket, looking uncertain towards the door, “Are you sure no one’s going to hurt me?”

“Absolutely certain.” David assured.

“I’m holding your word to that.” Max collected his mug from the table and followed David downstairs slowly. It took a bit of working to get both of them through the door trap in the mudroom, but they made it out just as his mom was setting a plate of muffins down in front of his father, and Daniel was walking down the stairs with slight bags under his eyes and yawning.

“Oh, good morning.” Daniel smiled and gave a small wave. Max wasn’t hiding behind David’s leg, but he was still definitely keeping David between him and Daniel.

“Why the hell are you dressed like a pirate?” Max asked in a judging tone, clearly trying to keep face.

“It’s my work uniform.” Daniel said simply, coming to the bottom of the stairs and joining Red and Green at the table.

“What? So you guys dress like medieval peasants and sell stuff out the shop front.” Max asked dryly, “Pretending the industrial revolution never happened or something?”

“What’s the industrial revolution?” Daniel’s question was genuine.

David face palmed and then spoke up before Max could make fun on the sheltered guy, guiding him over to the table. “We kind of do, Max. It’s a Renaissance Fair. Did I not tell you that’s what my parents work at?”

“No. you definitely didn’t mention that.” Max said grumpily, getting into one of the chairs. There were just enough seats for all of them, and it was a tight fit. Max sat between him and the wall, Mom across from Max and Daniel across from him. Dad sat at the end. All the chairs were made of solid wood, and clearly ment for full-sized adults. Max had to essentially sit on his knees to use the table. David made a note to get him a booster of some kind.

“Sorry.” David grimaced, “and also for forgetting a whole bunch of things, I guess.” He glanced over to Daniel and his father guiltily.”

“Yeah, you’re surprisingly bad at this warning stuff.” Max snorted, drinking his coffee.

“A renaissance fair is basically an amusement park- but without roller coasters. People come to watch interesting shows and buy weird things.” David explained, “if you want I can give you some spending money and let you go watch some shows today. I’ll be helping out in the shop with Daniel and Dad so it’ll be boring.”

“The whole fair sounds _boring_.” Max bemoaned, rocking his chair back. He nearly fell over but David caught him before he could fall. The kid was certainly awake now, and looking kind of sheepish too.

Thankfully the rest of Breakfast went by peacefully. Dad watching the news on the TV as he ate. Mom talking about what kind of clients she was going to have that day with Daniel. David ate silently and so did Max. Afterwards Max apprehended the TV remote and chilled on the couch, watching cartoons while the rest of them cleaned up and got ready for the day.

David overheard Max and Daniel talking when he came out of the restroom in his work costume. Max trying to explain the cartoon he was watching to Daniel, who didn’t seem to understand some of the basic concepts. The two were on complete opposite sides of the couch, Max clearly wanting some space from the man, and Daniel willing to give him that space, but at least they were talking. It was a start if anything.

“No you don’t understand- he’s the _Avatar_.” Max stressed, “He can manipulate wind, but also the other elements. He has to learn them all to defeat the Fire Lord.”

“Okay, but if he’s a pacifist should he not be resolving the conflict through non-violence? Instead of learning how to fight.” Daniel frowned, watching on screen in confusion.

“There’s a whole episode about that.” Max waved his hand dismissively, turning to look at David coming down the stairs. “David- Daniel’s never watched _Avatar_. Can you believe that?”

“It doesn’t surprise me,” David admitted, carrying the clothes he had changed out to over to the couch between the two. Their bags had been put there last night for lack of a better place. He started packing his things away, “Daniel’s had a pretty sheltered life I would say. Your parents probably didn’t let you watch TV as a kid, right?”

“Something like that. I wouldn’t say I’ve missed out on much.” Daniel said, leaning his head on his hand and watching the television. “I can see how people can relate to this stuff. People relate to stories all the time. But there’s tons of other mediums. Like books or music. What’s the difference between these and this? Probably not much.”

“You’re being too philosophical about this.” Max rolled his eyes and pointed at the screen, “Look, see the girl in green? She just chunked a rock at that guy and he went flying. It’s cool as fuck.”

“Max, language.” David and Daniel both said at the same time, in exactly the same tone. All three of them cringed the second it ended.

“Oh that’s super weird.” “Ugh I just got chills.” “Let’s try not to do that again.”

The door to the woodshop opened and Red poked his head in, looking over all three of them grimacing as one in the living room. “Time to open shop.” He grunted, before going back into the workshop.

“Coming.” Daniel followed Red out the door.

“I’ll be there in a second.” David promised, and fished out his wallet. Max turned off the TV and bounced over to him.

“Right so I’m giving you this much,” David said putting some twenties into Max’s hand. He clasped both around the boy’s, “This is for whatever you want, but remember you only get one bag on the trip to Texas. So whatever you can’t fit in your bag goes back to the camp, okay? You can come back here for lunch, or food at any time. I’m also going to give you my phone, Daniel’s number is in the address book, as well as my Dad’s and Mom. If anything happens text one of us- Daniel would be the best since he’s more likely to check his phone, okay?”

“Okay.” Max agreed with a nod. He pocketed David’s phone and pulled out a duck-tape wallet they had made in arts and crafts during the summer. Adding the bills to some he already had in there- probably money he’d stolen from other campers. David decided not to ask.

“You know, we should probably look into getting me a phone of my own,” Max pointed out, “you know. Since I’ll be staying here for a while.”

“Probably,” David said a bit distractedly. “We’ll look into that later. There’s a firework show after sunset- be here right after that ends, no later than 9:30. Other than that I’m trusting you Max. Don’t cause to much trouble.”

“There are fireworks? Sweet!” Max ignored David’s warning, as usual. David hoped Max didn’t find the storage for said fireworks or the fields. The last thing he needed was the child setting everything on fire.

David didn’t want to give him any ideas though. He kept his expression happy, ruffling the boy’s hair. But ending it by holding the boy’s chin and making him maintain eye contact. “Have fun Max, and don’t worry too much about everything anything else, okay? It’s not something you have to worry about.”

“Yes _don’t_ worry about the fact that I’m living with a serial killers now?” Max rolled his eyes sarcastically, “thanks for reminding me David.”

“Just go have fun Max.” David tried not to show his internal frown as he showed Max out to the front shop where customers were filtering in through the streets for the first time. David watched Max wander down the street taking in all of the shops and people in costumes until his blue jacket disappeared around the corner. Making David let out a breath he had been holding unconsciously and scratch the back of his head warily as he turned to look at his father’s shop.

David hoped Max could have a little fun and relax a bit. Yesterday had been rough, and once Monday rolled around things were going to get tough once again. Tougher if Max was still uneasy being around Daniel and his father.

Hopefully David had salvaged enough of this mess to make Max want to stay and have some semblance of a family. David really wanted Max to stay and have a better _something_. Sure this family probably wasn’t the most ideal, but at least here Max could be himself. That was more than his blood family had given the kid for sure, which was a sad thought but one David could live with. He’d just have to do better. Somehow.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A brief interlude of David's POV for this chapter. We'll be back with Max in Chapter 8. I'm sorry this chapter took a while to get out. I recently got Breath of the Wild and Splatoon 2 so I've been devoting less of my free time obsessing over this story. Chapter 7 and 8 are also just turning out really tricky to write for several reasons. I want to make sure I get these characters developed right and not just jump from point A to point B. Initially chapter 8 was going to be seven, but then I realized it kind of needed a bridge between them. This time in the form of David's take on everything that's happened, and more of a solid introduction to his family through them. Thank you guys for your patience.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max certainly feels like he's fallen down the rabbit hole. But he hasn't. So why do things keep getting weirder?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo Yo Yo  
> Props out to my beta Cursing Vermin as always.  
> No idea why I wrote it like that though.

# Ch. 8

Everything kind of felt super surreal for Max right now.

Between everything that happened yesterday, and today’s conversation with David. Max kind of felt like the world had dropped out from under his feet at some point and he had fallen into some weird alternate reality. Only there had been no mystical door or trippy falling sequence.

Max hadn’t even really gone to sleep so he couldn’t be dreaming. He pinched the back of his hand just to make sure, but he didn’t know if it hurting was a sign that he was awake of if that was supposed to wake him up. He wished TV shows would explain why people did these kinds of things instead of just having the characters do them sometimes.

Max sighed and leaned back against the bench he had procured, tucking his legs up to his chest and watching people walking around and enjoying the fair. A lot of them were in costumes like David and Daniel had put on that morning. Lots of poofy shirts, vests and belts for the guys. Busty dresses and corsets for the girls. Even the tourists were dressing up, some doing simple period costumes and others cosplaying as lord of the rings characters, or game of thrones, or some other medieval fantasy wizard thing. It all kind of reminded Max of the Halloween and Trick of Treating around his old neighborhood. Only without the crappy Disney costumes and cartoon-style decorations taking away from everything.

David was giving him a lot of trust letting him out on his own. Just sitting here Max could see three or four ways to ruin some people’s day. If he had grabbed some of his fireworks it would ramp up to ten.

He could just as easily up and leave as well.

That idea settled on his shoulders heavily. David had given him enough money for a cab fare, and unlike the camp he wasn’t that far from civilization. A quick check on David’s phone showed that they weren’t too far from Denver, a large enough city that Max could travel to and then just disappear into.

But did Max want to disappear? Where would he go? What would he do? Before the plan had been to go live with Nikki, or maybe Neil. Max didn’t know anyone who lived this far North. Well, besides some of his father’s business associates. He would rather put up with Daniel possibly killing him in his sleep before crawling to them for help though.

Max was ten, living on his own wasn’t going to be pleasant, or last all that long. He would get picked up by social services and if he wasn’t returned to David or his father then he would just end up in the system. Exactly what he had wanted to avoid by running away in the first place.

If he called the police on David and Daniel he’d end up there as well. Not to mention Max didn’t think calling the police was going to cause anything to happen. Something about the way David had explained the nature of his family to him had made Max feel like he was getting the glimpse of a bigger game David was playing over Max’s head. Like David was one of those evil villains who represented things happening around him with game pieces. Only without all the villainous glaring, evil intents and some mecha battle happening above their heads.

David wasn’t some evil mastermind villain, Max knew this, and David openly reminded him of this. He was probably just trying his best to keep things from falling apart and dealing with them as they came. In which case Max was just another problem for him, another thing that needed to be taken care of. Something he needed to make work.

This train of thought honestly depressed Max a little. He sunk down against the bench he was on and pulled out the wooden fish he had carved last night from his jacket pocket. He didn’t want to be a problem. Not to David at least. He liked David, even if the guy needed someone to sit him down and explain why letting someone murder people was bad.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” A happy and kind of insincere voice trailed happily. The words were directed at him and Max looked up to see what was essentially a clown on stilts walking up to him.

They had a jester hat on and clothing with a yellow, and black checkered pattern. The guys face was painted with black diamonds over his eyes and a red nose and blush. He stood beside the bench Max was sitting on and did a cool bending over trick, using a walking stick of his to all but curl into an upside down J to face Max.

“A little fish? Perhaps one lost from its shoal? I hope not that a fairy has stolen your soul.”

“Oh god what are you, a failed liberal arts major?” Max rolled his eyes, turning the fish over in his hand.

“Don’t be silly, I’m a fool.” The man bent back to a full height and indicated to his head comically, “Education is for higher minds, for the tools.”

Max gave a small huff of appreciation for the rhyme, “Hey that’s actually insulting and pretty clever. Good for you.”

“Cleverness is the fox’s game.” The man in costume winked and smiled as if he knew this, taking a step back and then bending at his waist to be more on his level. Just like David did to make the kids at camp feel more comfortable, “Upon mastery it can bring you good fame. But I am not here to preach instructions. Pray tell me, what has become of your custodians?”

The man was asking where his parents were. That made sense since everyone seemed to travel the Fair in groups, and kids his age were usually accompanied by an adult. They probably had the characters dressed up and walking around keep an eye out for lost kids or trouble makers.

Max wasn’t lost though, and as for his ‘custodians’… “I’m not lost, my guardian works at one of the shops. I’m just… thinking over some things.” God it was weird to refer to David as his care taker. But it was the truth now. David had adopted him. Max was part of his family now. He wasn’t quite sure how to feel about that.

The Fool was waving his hands over his head, bells on his hat jingling as he moved his torso to keep balance.

“What the hell are you doing?” Max asked the man angrily.

“I’m chasing away the curse keeping you down.” The man said, a comically determined look on his face, “quick, now while it’s gone! Up, up up, be hasty quick.” The man all but chased Max off of the bench. He picked up Max by the hands and moved his away from the bench and onto the ground just inside the road. “Those who stay where they are, never find their shticks.”

“What is that supposed to mean? You aren’t making much sense.” Max asked, alighting on the ground and turning to face the jester.

“I know that I am just a fool.” the man held up a gloved finger pointedly, “But it never helps to stay in a stagnant pool. Going up stream has made you weary. Now that you are at this waterfall, things seem dreary.” The man indicated to the brick wall beside them, and then clenched his fists encouragingly, “But you’ve got to keep on swimming to reach the top! Things may seem hard but don’t you stop!”

“Are you giving me vaguely life advice through riddles?” Max furrowed his brow.

The man smiled, “A jester jests but offers perspective. True fools rarely listen, but you seem attentive.”

Man this guy was really into his role. He also genuinely seemed like he really wanted to help. Max and the man held eye contact for a while. “Fish also get eaten by bears when they swim up-stream.” Max reminded the man.

The jester nodded solemnly, “Some risks are worth taking. Life, it often becomes daunting.” The man stood up to his extended height and held out his arms, looking over the growing crowds, “But one thing to remember is that everything ends up okay. We worry about things we shouldn’t have anyway.”

“It’s nice to stop and think.” The man looked down at Max and made a shrugging motion, “Yet what happens when that moment turns into a week? Moving on is usually what’s best. Go have some fun and don’t give yourself a test.”

“Dude, like do you just go around spouting advice to everyone you meet?” Max asked, feeling his hands shaking a bit. The man’s words striking a bit close to home. He hid them and his wooden carving in his kangaroo pocket “That’s kind of lame.”

“People do what they can. All it takes is a smile and a helping hand.” The man said, and ruffled Max’s hair. “Sometimes it helps to take advice from a clown. I’ll be off now, don’t keep yourself so down. You clearly need some time to think. So take my advice and let it steep.”

The man smiled and pulled something out of a side bag at his waste. Max made an unhappy nose as the man peeled off a sticker and booped it onto his forehead. Smiling farewell as he walked away. Max peeled off the plastic sticker to find it was one of a happy smiling face.

He rolled his eyes and looked back down the street to where the man on stilts was hailing a family full of little kids. Most of them looking at them with stars in their eyes while one toddler backed up fearfully.

“Stupid, advice giving clown,” Max grumbled, and stared down at the plastic, attaching it to the bench he had been sitting on. Max stared at it for a while, and then looked at the brick wall beside him. Thinking over the man’s words. Maybe the guy’s vagueness had hit a point, maybe. Sitting here and brooding over stuff wasn’t going to get him anywhere. He was obviously going to be staying with David, which ment that in turn he would be staying with Daniel.

Something that didn’t settle nicely into his stomach or on his conscious, but not something he couldn’t live with. David had given him enough cash to do stuff around the fair, and even told him not to worry about all this stuff. Maybe he ought to do just that and enjoy his day instead of brooding over it like a teenager.

Max pocketed his wooden fish and turned to walk down the street, keeping an eye out for some trouble to get into. Max was a little too tired for any hit-and runs though. Not tired enough to go back to sleep, unfortunately. The coffee was doing its job, so trying to take a nap or something would be fruitless. Mulling things over in an endless circle wasn’t getting him anywhere either, so Max left the bench behind. Intent on have some fun while he could, and try not to focus on how weird his life was right now.

The first thing Max really did was just walk around and stare at everything. His father always called places like this a waste of money, so he had never been to a fair or amusement park for that matter. The shops looked cool, he guessed. They kind of had this old-English feel to them, and they sold some pretty interesting stuff, though most of it was geared towards adults and temporary things you could wear around the festival. There were some pretty cool toys, like puppet dragons and foam swords, but nothing Max knew he would keep in the long run. He guessed superficially it was kind of a waste of money, but everyone else seemed to have fun picking out flower crowns and getting their face painted.

The only thing Max found that was worth spending his money on was a stall selling and making exotic coffees and teas. It wasn’t so much a shop as an open tent with some shelves in a market-like set up of the town. Still the smell drew Max in like a fish on a line and he ended up tasting half the shop and buying several bags of unique flavored coffees, along with a bean grinder that looked like a skull. The people running the shop had been skeptical at selling to him at first, since he was a kid and all. However once Max made it clear that he was serious about his tastes they didn’t have any problem offering him some of the darker roasts they offered and the unique blends. So much better tasting than the instant crap David kept up at the camp. Max preferred quality and this stuff was _fresh_. He hoped the flavors didn’t sour when the beans aged a bit, though he kept several of the company cards so he could feasibly order more online if need be.

Fully caffeinated by now, and honestly running a bit on a caffeine high, Max started exploring the fair again, this time turning his attention the games and rides instead of the shops. There weren’t any high stake roller coaster rides, but they had a swinging ship, and giant swings, and a _giant fucking_ rocking horse that was a lot less lame then it sounded. Max rotated between them and paid seven bucks to be harnessed into some bungie cords and do back flips on a super trampoline with a spotter. Something that really got his adrenaline going. There was a whole section for carnival games, many of which were right up Max’s alley. He threw tomatoes at some guys who were paid to just stand there and be hit and taunted by kids. Got kicked out of the cross bow game for firing his cross bow out of the range. Even though he hadn’t hit anyone, just a wooden depiction of some knight. Got kicked out of the archery stall for tying some napkins to the end of an arrow and lighting it on fire.  The axe throwing guy wouldn’t even let him into his stall, apparently having been warned about him, but Max managed to convince a smaller kid to let him ‘borrow’ one of the throwing axes. Which subsequently ended up through one of the stuffed dragons you could win as a prize.

Max moved on before anyone could catch him, disappearing into the crowds and ended up at the giant jousting arena. Actual people riding horses and swinging at each other with poles, doing tricks and competitions. Max bought some cotton candy and hollered along with the crowd, making some parents cover their children’s ears with his insults and blowing off one or two questions as to where his parents were.

“None of your fucking business, that’s where. Now shut up, I’m trying to watch the show.” Was Max’s eloquent answer.

There were a lot of free shows happening around the stages or even in the shops. There was also a glass blowing exhibit, and a story telling session, and tons of other things around the fair you could just sit and _watch_. Max saw the whip guys performing on the stage they were practicing on last night and it was just as cool as it had been then. Bands would put on performances theming out-of-era instruments that still sounded pretty cool and interesting. There were magic shows that would make Harrison squeal, and plenty of things for Nerris to geek over.

The performances were all free too, besides an initial ticket fee Max assumed. Sure the actors and people asked for tips afterwards, but it was still at the viewer’s discretion. Max pilfered a program from a passing-by stroller and hoped between them, hopping between them all. Though about halfway through he started to crash from his sugar and caffeinated rush, a night’s lack of sleep catching up with him. Thankfully Max found a pretty nice shaded area where musical performers playing flutes, harps and other things were taking turn playing music. Max, used to spending an entire summer getting away from David’s mid-afternoon activities, had no qualms with settling down on the ground behind a tree near the back, between the side wall of a shop and taking a short nap. Something that didn’t last too long because soon enough he was being woken up by a woman in an absolutely wicked fairy costume. Flowers in her hair and thin paper wings shimmering as the stun cast through them. If Max had been a simpler child he might have thought she was real, but he knew better.

“What’s this, a lost one?” She asked with a smile, barely holding back a concerned look as she gently probed him awake. Though she kept up her Irish accent pretty well, “or a fairy just born- it seems the place for one.”

“Oh my god what is with you characters?” Max groaned suffering, pulling his hood over his head to keep the sun out of his eyes, “I’m just fucking taking a nap. I’m fine, go away.”

“Me thinks this one’s a little grumpy, and might need a nap.” The woman all but used a mom voice, putting her hands on her hips.

“What do you think I’m doing?” Max rolled his eyes, and picked up the bag he was carrying his coffee stuff in, getting to his feet, dusting off some mulch and leaves, “fine, I’m up. There are you happy?”

The woman smiled and produced a flower from a woven carrier at her side, sliding it into his hair, “There! Now you are certainly born a fairy. Come now, we should get you some water, and make sure you are well.” The woman said with a smile, gently taking his hand.

Max rolled his eyes and let the woman lead him over to the nearby first aid station. The woman pretending like she was escorting a new born fairy the entire way and even giving him some glitter to spread around as fairy dust later. As soon as she saw him off at the ‘lost and found’ kid central, and the busy attendant working the station’s back was turned, Max faded back into the crowd. Leaving the stupid blue flower in some bushes, but holding onto the glitter. He found the fairy lady a few minutes later and followed her around for a bit. Eventually dumping the whole lot on her when she least expected it. Running away while the lady was still sneezing in surprise.

He walked around for a bit more and watched a few more shows. Even doubling back to watch some more jousting. He managed to convince one of the food stall owners that he was ‘a big kid’ and getting some coffee for his dad, since they weren’t too keen on selling the beverage to someone his size. The stuff the fair sold was cheap and filled with cream but it was still coffee. Max nursed his cup and tried to convince one of the sword shop owners to sell him a sword.

“No you see, you only assume I’m not 18.” Max said, placing his elbow and paper cup on the counter, “See I’m actually just pretty short, it’s a rare condition.”

“Like I’m going to fall for that, sprout.” The woman behind the counter smirked, leaning up against the counter and crossing her arms.

“What if I’m not kidding then I could sue you for discrimination. I have a medical condition you know!”

“I’m just going to tell them you didn’t have an ID and state that we can refuse to sell on that alone.” The woman raised an eyebrow, “If you want something to play with go check out the foam sword store over by the arena.”

“Like I’d want one of those. Nerris went through four of them this summer, their quality is crap.” Max rolled his eyes, “and besides, I do have an ID. Check it.” Max pulled out his duct tape wallet and put David’s old driver license down on the table, something he had snagged while pilfering the office one day. He had carefully super glued a picture of himself over David’s. It was his master piece of art.

“You do realize this ID says you’re not only 18, but 24?” the woman said, picking up the license and reading it over, “Mr. Green- wait. Is this Little Red’s license?!” the woman asked in surprise.

“Who?” Max asked with a blink.

“David- David _Green._ I know him, idiot. Everyone knows Red and his family. They’ve worked here for years. Where the hell did you get this?” the woman asked, and turned to call over her boss, who was talking to some lame assess dressed as Jedi.

“Uhm, I’ve decided I don’t want the sword anymore.” Max said quickly. He jumped up and tried to snatch the license out of the woman’s hand, but she raised it up out of his reach. Max saw the intent in her eyes to grab him and bolted before she could do anything. Only realizing afterwards that he had left his coffee cup on the counter.

Damnit. He circled around to a different food court and waited in line, playing up the ‘big child but still adorable’ act to get another cup of caffeine. Absolutely degrading, but necessary in some cases.

“And dad always says he likes his coffee black.” Max told the lady, putting on the puppy eyes, “I don’t know what that means but can you do that please?”

“Sure thing, sweetie.” The woman said happily, pouring out a cup. It still had cream in it. Max made a face as he walked back down the road, eventually sitting down on some benches filling up for a puppet show. Max didn’t do much else the rest of the day. He watched a few more shows and pushed some kids around on the open play sets, went on some of the funnier rides before and even found the petting zoo quite enjoyable as he riled up the goats into running around the pen and almost knocking over a few adults. He left before they could kick him out, though he did hear whispers about a ‘trouble maker in a blue hoodie’ from the employees as they tried to calm the animals.

_Yes reputation established!_ Max pumped a fist in victory and made his way over to the elephant rides, watching them, but not all that interested in getting on for a ride. It was about closing time then, and Max could feel that the caffeine in his system wouldn’t be lasting much longer. Everyone was drifting towards the jousting arena for the fireworks show, but Max kind of lagged behind in his tired state. Not really eager to join such a massive crowd of bodies when his small size meant he could easily be stepped into.

David’s texting tone went off, and Max hovered over Daniel’s contact name for a few seconds before reading the message.

**Hey Max It’s David. Want to watch the fireworks together? Dad’s letting me and Daniel off early.**

**Who’d want to watch fireworks with your lame ass?** Max texted back.

**Where are you now? I’ll meet up with you.**

**I’ll meet you by the foam sword place near the arena.**

It was more of a central location. Max left the elephants behind, weaving his way through the crowd and down the fair street.

**Coolio.**

Max snorted.

**Who the fuck says Coolio?**

**Radical dudes.**

**Who are hip, Yo.**

**Omg ur so dated.**

**Am not. I am like, totally awesome Max. Get with the program. *insert flower girl voice here***

**That’s lame and so accurate on to many levels.**

Max couldn’t help but chuckle.

**Well they all speak the same.**

**No like literally, that’s a thing they do.**

**They have a class on it and everything.**

David texted in quick succession. He was typing out a fourth text in rapid succession when Max found him leaning against the foam sword stand. Daniel’s phone was in his hand, the same model as David’s but yellow with a pentagram sticker on the back. The red head was grinning like he had told a clever joke and Daniel was watching him type out the next message over his shoulder.

Max’s step faltered when he saw Daniel. Still not comfortable with the guy being around. For good reason. He had nearly stabbed Dolf that one day, not to mention nearly poisoning the entire camp. It made Max uncomfortable just seeing him, and it unnerved him how casual everyone else was with the dude. Letting him join them at breakfast, casually talking to him about things. Like he was an average person and not a serial killer actually actively about to go murder some people in a few days.

**It’s legit brainwashing.**

Was David’s final text. Max looked at it and felt that surreal feeling warping over him again. The jester’s words from that morning came to his mine. _But one thing to remember is that everything ends up okay. We worry about things we shouldn’t have anyway._

“They brainwash people?” Daniel’s voice drifted over to him. The two of the conversing like they were talking about a TV show or some camp activity. “Are they a religious camp?”

“No.” David looked up from the phone, replying casually, “It’s more of a brain washing to make them all fit into a social niche.”

The two of them standing there talking- they looked like brothers. Or close friends, both of them were just chilling. Daniel didn’t look to be applying some super villainous murder plot, and David didn’t seem like he was carrying the conversation to some grand revelation. David had told Max not to worry about the guy because he wasn’t going to be trying to kill him, and the Jester this morning had warned him that people tend to over think things and get stuck in loops. Was Max really over thinking this all? Was Daniel being here such a big deal? Was he… over thinking this?

David was laughing lightly at something Daniel had said. Hitting him on the arm jokingly. Daniel didn’t seem to appreciate the physical contact but smiled through it anyway. Eyes looking out across the cobbled street and immediately locking onto Max, probably because there weren’t a lot of people wearing blue in the area, or no people in general since everyone was taking seats for the firework show.

They made eye contact and Max’s senses kicked up to ten. Spine straitening in fear, as he froze to the spot. Those iridescent blue eyes still stirred nightmares in the back of his head.

**Nope**. _Nope.nope.nope.nope._ Every muscle in his body screamed. Daniel was definitely still something to be scared of.

“Ah, good evening Max- …Max?” Daniel said happily, and then became confused. Max didn’t turn to see his expression. Booking it back the way he had come.

“Max? Oh dear. Stay here Daniel.” David’s voice registered in his head, and Max heard the other’s footsteps pick up behind him. Max tried to increase his speed but he had never been a fast or particularly long-winded runner. He barely made it around the corner of the road. Coming to a stop and leaning up against a wall to catch his breath.

David’s heavier footsteps slowed down and he came around the corner, a concerned look on his face.

“Max? What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong? What’s wrong?!” Max felt his emotions boiling up to an explosive level again, “You’re standing over there talking with Mr. Suicide Cult and laughing about brain washing children! What the fuck David!?!”

“I was just being facetious. The flower scouts don’t actually brain wash people.” David said with a calming tone while holding up his hands. “You look dead on your feet. Are you feeling okay?” David reached out for him in concern.

“No! I’m not! I don’t want to sit down and talk about this!” Max knocked away David’s hand, “I’m not an adult David. You can’t just lay a bunch of shit on me and expect me to be able to accept this shit!”

Behind him the first of the fireworks went off, booming in the night sky. David paused, then carefully folded his legs, coming down to Max’s level. “What would you rather me do then?”

“I don’t fucking know!” Max admitted, looking away from the man as he sunk his head down between his shoulders. He equally lowered his tone. “Just make Daniel fucking go away. I don’t like him.”

A crackling firework in the sky highlighted them in blue for a few brief moments. David reached forward and tried to tuck his curly bangs behind one ear. They popped back into place though. “Max. I can’t just kick Daniel out like that, he’s practically family.” David moved his hand down onto Max’s shoulder and kept it there, a gentle presence.

“He scares me.” Max spoke quietly, the words almost being drowned out by one of the fireworks. He didn’t know why he said this, but realized very quickly that it was the truth. Daniel scared him. The thought of him being not only alive, but _here_. Sleeping in the same vicinity and killing people openly- it scared him. That wasn’t all which was scarring him either.

“You’re scaring me.” Max looked up to look at David.

The man all but flinched at the words. His hand jumping off of Max’s shoulder and hovering uncertainly, David’s expression a mix of surprise and uncertainty.  David hesitated to answer for a minute, clearly not knowing what to say, “Max, I'm sorry-“

“No you’re fucking not! Don’t say that!” Max exploded in frustration, pointing an accusing finger at the man. Fireworks flared behind them with his temper.

“You’re not sorry! You’re just doing your best to make this shit work. And while talking through your emotions might be how you deal with this shit; I'm not used to dealing with things out loud.” Max admitted. Scrubbing at his eyes. He could feel the bags under his eyes from the lack of sleep.

“Before it was ‘just stop complaining' or ‘well we’re doing it this way' I didn’t get choices David, and I didn’t get a say and- and you’re giving me both of those. I appreciate that, I _do_.” Max tried to convey this earnestly, holding up his hands, he looked down at them. Blue flashes from up above highlighting them.

“It’s just- I don’t know what to _say_. Things are moving so fast and there's a lot to process- but I know you can’t control any of that. I know that, but that doesn’t mean I’m not anxious or scared or any of that shit. Your family is like some big clan of assassins in some ninja kid movie- but I’m not some orphaned protégé. I’m just _me_ David.” Max indicated to himself, voice falling quietly, “I’m just me.”

David waited to make sure he didn’t have anything more to say before he spoke, gently and with patience. “Max, I am not asking you to change. Or to kill anyone for that matter.”

“Yeah because you'd probably do it _yourself_.” Max wrapped his arms around himself at the thought. Especially since it wasn’t so hard to imagine David stabbing someone. He had had nightmares of Daniel stabbing others before, and the two looked very similar. It wasn’t that hard to build a bridge. Max shuddered, “and that's **not** okay David. Its- its, I don’t know. You’re supposed to be the good guy. The one who solves things peacefully before they escalate to violence or whatever.”

“Max. Life isn’t a movie or TV show.” David said patiently, fireworks popping in the distance, “It’s always more complicated than that, and sometimes it’s a lot weirder.”

“I fucking know that!” Max exclaimed frustratingly, running his hands through his hair. “But you’re making it hard to feel like this is reality right now.”

Max paused, taking a second to compose himself. “Do you know what Daniel said to me back when we were at camp?” David shifted to sit down on the ground, crossing his legs. Clearly willing to listen. Max let out a stressed huff, crossing his arms, “He said people don’t want to think. People just want to feel safe.” Max shifted and started to pace nervously, “What if this is how he gets to people? He makes them think things are okay. He makes them drop their guard, and when you least expect it he stabs you in the back?! What if this is all some grand ploy- some round about scheme to get you back for stopping him at camp?! How can you say that you know he won’t hurt me, when you don’t even know if he’s scheming something?!”

“Because I’m not.” The voice didn’t startle them, but both Max and David turned. Daniel was leaning up against the wall of the building, just around the corner. Fireworks went off, bathing his silhouette in yellow light.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Max took a step back cautiously, “Listening in like some kind of creep.”

“You two aren’t being very discreet.” Daniel hung his head and put his hands into his pant pockets.

“That doesn’t mean you can listen in.” Max said unhappily.

“I'm sorry for eavesdropping.” Daniel turned his head towards them, “I’m sorry that the energies between us are so negative- but I don’t want that energy to carry between you and David. For all that its worth.”

“Daniel,” David moved to rise to his feet.

Max stopped him, pushing David back down onto his ass. “Your apology doesn’t mean shit.” Max stepped forward, pointing an accusing finger, “Why should we believe anything you say? You’re nothing but a crazy psychopath who thinks that killing kids can be justified! Why are you even here?! Who would want to live with someone like you?!”

Daniel looked away, not speaking up in his own defense.

“Max.” David dragged out his name just a bit, in that disappointed tone he used when Max had cursed. Only this one was edged with caution and weary, “I know you’re frustrated, but that wasn’t very nice.”

“No David, he’s right. If I’m the one causing this much negativity- maybe,” Daniel took a shaky breath, it sounded like he was holding back tears, “maybe it would just be best if I left.”

The man turned around the corner, disappearing. Max felt a small trickle of satisfaction from making the man retreat, but it quickly soured.

“Daniel!” David held out a hand, and found his feet, “Daniel, wait!”

Max saw David’s retreating figure and grabbed onto his hand, stopping him, “where do you think you’re going?!”

“I’m going after Daniel, Max.” David sounded worried, but was being patient. He could have very easily brushed Max off, but didn’t. He looked back to where Daniel was leaving and down to him, anxious to give chase. When he turned back to Max he looked resolved.

“Listen Max, I know you don’t like Daniel. But he’s the closest thing I’ve ever had to a sibling and well, that means something to me. It means a lot- and it means something to him as well. Daniel doesn’t talk about his family a lot. I don’t think they like him all that much. I’ve never seen him just walk away like that, I think you struck a nerve or something.”

“Good. Because he’s crazy and murders people.” Max pointed out, but still kept a firm grasp on David’s hand. Refusing to let him go. “David I don’t care if he’s some placebo brother to you! He’s dangerous and we can’t trust him!”  

Max didn’t understand. He had won this argument, Daniel had retreated. David was his- Max didn’t quite understand what was going on. That was how arguments worked, right? You kept pushing each other until the other party backed off and then you were right- right? That’s what his parents always did.

David didn’t let go of his hand, instead turning fully to face him. “Max, I think you and Daniel have a lot more in common than you think. Being left without anyone around to care… I would have expected you of all people to be empathize with someone who just wants a place to belong but well- I guess you’re still just ten.”

“W-what the hell does that mean?” Max asked, not understanding, “I’m ten, I can understand shit! Explain it to me!”

David half-smiled and after a second stood up straighter. Max dug his fingers into started to panic internally. Here came the shrug off- the part where David left him behind. Just like his parents, and every adult he ever knew. A part of Max had expected it always. There was no way someone as perfect as David could have ever existed. Max felt his heart pick up a beat.

Then David adjusted his grip, not so that Max wasn’t clutching at his hand anymore, but so that both their hands were linked, firmly but gently.

“Emotions Max, they’re messy remember?” David attempted a humorous smile, and then pulled. Bringing Max along with him as he started a brisk pace in the direction Daniel had disappeared into. They left the fireworks behind and traveled into the dark and empty streets of the closing fair.

“Come on. I don’t think we have much time to waste.”

“What?” Max stumbled, but eventually found a pace that matched David’s. All but being dragged, but still following David into the growing darkness simply because he didn’t want to lose David’s warm hand holding onto his. “Why?”

“Everyone deserves to be happy Max.” David said gently, “if not with the family you were born into, than the one you make.” he looked ahead towards the darkening fair, not hesitating in his stride. Max tripping along behind him.

“Even for someone like Daniel.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The further I get into this story the harder it is to keep everyone in character. Max finally gets some actual breathing room to be his asshole self in this chapter, and I absolutely love the idea of him causing enough problems in one day that the workers around the fair are spreading rumors about him. David has unleashed an unholy terror upon this festival, he knows not what he has wrought.
> 
> The argument between David and Max initially ended with Max questioning David's character morality, and David somewhat conceding that he's a terrible person (because you know, he has no sense of self-worth) and vaguely stating that everything's been one mistake after another. To which an ease dropping Daniel interpreted him as saying that adopting Max was a mistake (though Max knew this wasn't the case) and replied by stepping in and telling him to cheer the fuck up while simultaneously telling him he's a shit father figure, all while trying to spoon feed Max positivity.
> 
> As you can imagine it was a cluster fuck, and the argument never ended. So I simplified it and decided to break things apart across two chapters.
> 
> A piece of advice to all you writers out there- when having characters argue only bring up one issue at a time. Make sure to address that issue before moving on. It helps keep the intentions clear and helps you to actually end the arguments in a natural fashion. So that you have more of characters coming to conclusions and developing instead of someone walking in and interrupting the argument which never gets resolved.  
> Now this certainly doesn't mean that you can't bring up different issues, but you should at least touch significantly on a point before transitioning into another one. That way your characters aren't just yelling at each other for no reason.  
> You also don't need to finish every fight in one go. Arguments- such as the one in this chapter- can completely involve people just bringing up an issue. Max is taking his frustration and confusion out on David and Daniel. letting them know there's an issue. A resolution isn't reached, but now David knows how Max is feeling, and that's a start into them actually working together towards an end instead of Max just going along with the flow of things. not everything can be resolved through one or two conversations, sometimes things take time and if you actually give them time that feels a lot more fleshed out.
> 
> Just thoughts on the parts of this chapter that took longer than others. I hope you guys enjoy!
> 
> edit: I changed up the ending to flow a bit better. It leaves it on a bit of a cliff hanger, but since the next chapter's out you don't have to wait a month for an update. :3


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Living in the presence certainly isn't easy when your past defines you. But something you just have to go for. Daniel gets a little motivation from his adopted family, but realizes that living with the Green's isn't the sanest decision he's ever made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait on this chapter. The full story is in the end notes.

# Ch. 9

“What if this is how he gets to people?” Max asked pleadingly, almost begging David to understand, “He makes them think things are okay. He makes them drop their guard, and when you least expect it he stabs you in the back?! What if this is all some grand ploy- some round about scheme to get you back for stopping him at camp?! How can you say that you know he won’t hurt me, when you don’t even know if he’s scheming something?!”

“Because I’m not.” Daniel spoke up, and immediately regretted making his presence known. This conversation was clearly a private one, and one that he wasn’t invited into. He spoke up from his heart though, appalled to find that this was what Max thought of him. That **this** was what he had left behind at the camp months ago.

Fireworks went off, giving a brief highlight of the anger in Max’s expression.

Max made his disapproval in Daniel’s presence known. The boy’s voice bitter and cold. It practically radiated with negativity. Daniel hung his head, ashamed to know that he had caused this.

“I'm sorry for eavesdropping.” Daniel apologized sincerely, he turned his head towards them slightly, but they were still around the corner from him, “I’m sorry that the energies between us are so negative- but I don’t want that energy to carry between you and David. For all that its worth.”

He honestly ment that. He had known the emotional bond between Max and himself was more of a negative one. But he had hoped that with time and a little understanding they could perhaps turn that around. This morning hadn’t been so bad after all, the boy had been warry of him but nothing more. One could never underestimate negative emotions though, and he had done just that. Clearly Max’s poor perception of him wasn’t something that could easily be mended. It was a nasty, sore wound that was festering over into Max’s relationship with David as well.

This made Daniel actually feel like the monster everyone always claimed he was. A relationship between a parent and child, even one as situational as this one, was important. Something not to be corrupted- and _ancients_ that was exactly what Daniel was doing wasn’t it? Corroding what small faith Max had in David- weakening an already weak bond. A bond that was just now being established, one that was in its infancy.

Daniel felt an absolutely vile taste rising up in his throat. It was distinctly grape flavored.

“Daniel,” David moved to rise to his feet.

Max stopped him, pushing David back down onto his backside as he stepped forward, raising an accusing finger. “Your apology doesn’t mean shit. Why should we believe anything you say? You’re nothing but a crazy psychopath who thinks that killing kids can be justified! Why are you even here?! Who would want to live with someone like you?!”

Daniel didn’t want to say the boy was wrong. He was making several valid points.

“Max.” David dragged out his name just a bit, in that disappointed tone he used when Max had cursed earlier. Only this one was edged with caution and weary, “I know you’re frustrated, but that wasn’t very nice.”

“No David, he’s right. If I’m the one causing this much negativity- maybe,” Daniel took a shaky breath, realizing what needed to be done. “Maybe it would just be best if I left.”

It was the best solution. All this negativity was because he was here and- and the teachings were clear on situations like this. If he was causing this much negativity and corrupting people- he was the problem, and he was what needed to be removed. David wasn’t going to send him away, he was much to kind hearted, so it was up to Daniel to fix the issue then. He didn’t hesitate. He turned away from the wall and started walking down the fair road, putting a hand over his mouth. It was for the best then, even if a large part of him didn’t want to leave.

“Daniel!” David’s voice called after him, “Daniel, wait!”

Daniel ignored him and kept walking. Away from the situation and away from Max. This was for the better. He couldn’t sour any developing family relations if he wasn’t there, or cause any new ones.

It hurt, it hurt a lot. The Green family had almost become a second home over the last few months. He appreciated that for once he could just be himself around people for once without being judged. He liked helping the stoic Red in the wood carving shop, and he liked talking with Green over tea about cryptic fortunes and the strange rituals her magic required. David always made sure to ask if he was doing okay, and always seemed to understand when he wasn’t quite telling the truth. Daniel was even looking forward to Max joining them on the trip down south and staying with him and David at the camp, but that didn’t look like a scenario that was going to be as nice as he thought it would be.

Personal happiness was never a Shepard’s priority. You had to do what was best for the flock, for your cult followers. Max didn’t fall under that category specifically, but he was close enough to this strange second family that Daniel cared. If Max was going to be miserable with him being around, then it was best for him to leave. Finding a new job was nothing in comparison to forcing a child to live in fear after all.

Who had Daniel been kidding anyway? David had only brought him here so he could essentially work as an indentured worker. Help his father out with the shop, and then work at the camp. Work in exchange for the favor of not having the cops hauling him off to jail. Maybe Green and Red had only been putting up with him this entire time. Their smiles might not have felt fake, but any smile was better than the constant skepticism he had faced up until coming here.

It had been hard leaving the compound behind. Very hard. His parents had warned him about the outside world and the false beliefs of others. Daniel hadn’t quite realized how big the world was before he left home, and how small one man could be. No journey was a small struggle. Daniel had his share of trials. Still, he hadn’t ever given up on his belifs. It was in one of darkest trials that he finally, _finally_ thought he’d found a break. A light on the hill, a sanctuary of people that at accepted him for who he was and didn’t question him at every turn. A blessing after so much work.

Daniel should have realized that it wouldn’t last. Nothing good ever did. Which was why you were supposed to make the high points the end of things. Fix that positivity into eternity.

Maybe this was all coming around because he had been selfish? Wanting to linger and stay here where it was nice, instead of leaving it behind to reach out and tackle the negativity of the world? Daniel’s calling from the beginning had been to spread the Truth to the world. He didn’t consider himself idle these last few months. He had amassed a small following in the time that he had stayed here. Even had a whole flock ready for sacrificing. … Maybe it hadn’t been enough?  What was enough though? Didn’t he deserve something by this point?

Daniel shook his head, dispelling that line of thinking immediately. Thinking that the world owed you was never a positive frame of mind. That didn’t keep the thoughts from lingering though; and it left that sour, poisonous taste in the back of his throat again.

Daniel needed to detoxify and reflect on all of this. Not now though, right now he needed to just get away. Remove himself from the situation before he poisoned things more. He exited the back of the fair into the employee parking, passing up David’s old beat up car while fishing the keys to Mrs. Green’s car out of his pocket. She’d technically given the keys to him with a promise of free use of the vehicle- but he guessed Grand Theft would be officially added onto his criminal record by tomorrow.

“Daniel, Daniel wait!” David’s voice came from behind him as he unlocked the car. He turned in surprise, seeing the red head coming out of the fence gate. Max in tow.

They made eye contact for a second, both of them freezing in place. Max looked between them though, and the moment broke. Daniel turned and opened the car door, and David let go of Max’s hand simultaneously. Reaching out with a clear intent to stop him. Daniel’s hands shook as he turned over the engine.

“Daniel! Don’t leave! We should talk about this!” David rounded his own car, advancing towards him. Daniel put the car into reverse and pulled out of the space. Driving down the dirt road before David could do something stupid, like jump in front of the car. The last thing Daniel could make out of the man in the darkness was him standing in the dirt path, calling out to him in the red haze of the car’s tail lights.

Daniel adjusted the mirror away, and left the man behind. His phone started to ring after a few seconds. And a picture of David with his ex-girlfriend smiled happily up at him. Daniel ignored the call and dropped his phone on his lap, sagging into the seat and feeling all of the energy drain out of his system.

David was such a nice person- even accepting someone as toxic as him into their family. Which was why he had to leave them behind. He couldn’t corrupt them with his negative presence. As it was now he was probably a liability to spreading negativity to anyone he interacted with.

Daniel felt the tears that had been stinging his eyes actually start to fall, making it a little hard to see the road. His phone went off again, and he blindly picked up his phone, hung up, turned it off and tossed it angrily into the center console. Cursing David’s tenacity.

“He’s as stubborn as his father.” A quiet, amused voice came from behind him.

Daniel practically jumped out of his skin, and slammed on the breaks. Thankfully he hadn’t been driving that fast- else he would have slammed into the wind shield since he hadn’t put on his seat belt.

Once the initial jolt was over, he turned around, finding Mrs. Green bracing herself between the driver and passenger seats. Unruffled by the sudden stop.

“How long have you been in here?!” Daniel didn’t think his voice had hit such a high pitch since puberty. He didn’t question it though, since he certainly hadn’t been this scared since his father had caught him and his sister sneaking out of the compound to go watch movies without his permission back when he was thriteen.

Mrs. Green smiled calmly, her one eye twinkling with hidden knowledge and a slight hint of humor. “Since the beginning dear, you’re very unobservant when you’re in a mood.”

“What are you- how did you- why are you here?” There were several questions that filed up to cue out of Daniel’s mouth, he sputtered them out all at once embarrassingly since he already knew the answers to each of those points. Mrs. Green had never kept her supernatural abilities a well-kept secret. The woman ran a fortune telling shop for a living, enough was said.

Green reached forward and put a gently hand on his shoulder, and it was like a calming presence was blanketed over him. Daniel took his first steady breath since starting the car, and gave her an uncertain look. She squeezed his shoulder shoulder fondly before taking back her arm.

“Our family is quite unnecessarily dramatic you know.” she said simply, and shifted off the back seat, leaning forward. Moving from the back of the car up into the passenger seat with more grace than he would have expected from a woman her age.

She sighed as she settled down, reaching beside her for the seat belt and looking pointedly at him with her one eye, “This is not the first time I’ve had to preemptively sneak into a car to console a wayward son. David was a drama queen back when he was a teenager- he got sick of me showing up to wherever he would run off to. He would always get so angry.” She chuckled humorously at the memories.

“I’m not your actual son.” Daniel said, a bitter taste lingering in his mouth. He had a mother back home, one that he loved and didn’t need to replace with.

“No? Then consider me a concerned Aunt.” Green buckled her seat belt and pulled her bangs back from over her face, a soft smile on her face. Daniel couldn’t meet it, looking down at the steering wheel instead.

Green dropped the smile, “Daniel, when you first started living with us do you remember what I said to you. About where you were coming from?”

“And how it didn’t matter because it was more important where I was going?” Daniel murmured quietly. Easily the most cryptic conversation he had ever had with the woman, mostly because it was one of the first. The woman spoke in riddles more often than not, and liked to lace everything with a cryptic tone. It took some getting used too, and on more than one occasion he found it a bit frustrating. The woman was a wise soul however, it was usually in one’s best interests to listen when she started talking.

“The cross road is a very significant symbol in my culture.” Green nodded, indicating he had been correct. She nodded again, this time towards the road, “and I would say you’re coming up to one.”

Daniel looked ahead to where wooden posts with ropes on them actually marked out a cross road on the gravel roads that cut through the back of the fair. He looked up towards the roof of the car in disbelief.

“I’m starting to see why David would get angry if you always showed up when he drove away.”

“Oh yes I can still hear it now, ‘ _Mom’_ ” Green altered her voice to sound like a very typical, whiney teenager, “’cryptic riddles are not the kind of support I need right now!’”

The sad part was that she _actually_ sounded like a more pubescent David. Daniel couldn’t help but smile a bit.

“I am serious though, we are on an exit road- and the fair is about to let out.” Green patted his arm fondly, and indicated down the road, “We should probably move before we make everyone leaving work for the night angry. Come on, let’s park and talk. I think that will do us much good.”

Daniel obliged, pulling off the break and driving forward through the intersection. Between the fright Green had given him, and the brief banter the negative swarm of thoughts which had been plaguing him seemed to have dispersed. The still lingered in the form of depression though, Daniel stretched his neck to either side unhappily. Parking the vehicle and turning the engine off.

“I… guess I don’t really have to say anything, right?” Daniel said after a while. “I mean you’ve got near-omnipotent future sight. Anything I say you already know, and any action I take you’ve already accounted for.”

“I’m faltered, Daniel but I am not nearly so omnipotent.” Green said humorously, “I might have a few handy tricks up my sleeve, but the strings of fate aren’t ment to be read out like a biography.”

“But if you don’t know what’s going on… then why are you here?”

“Because I care about you, dear.” Green gave him a pointed look, “I don’t need to know your whole life story to consider you a part of the family.”

“But you barley know anything about me.” Daniel said, rubbing his neck, “Not where I’m coming from or what I've done-”

“Daniel I've already told you none of that matters.” Green reminded him sternly. Daniel bit his lip not being able to rebuke this. Green continued with a skeptical tone, “and not knowing anything about you? Daniel, you’ve been staying with us for nearly the entire summer now. I would say I know you well enough. Now tell me, what happened that has you running off like this? It is very unlike you.”

Daniel felt that sour taste coming back and swallowed, “I… I don’t know if this is going to work out anymore.” Daniel admitted, wiping off his cheek, “I though before… no maybe hoped is the better word. I had hoped that I might be able to stay with you guys for longer. However with Max… I think it is best that I leave.”

“Why is Max the issue here?”

“He hates me.” Daniel sniffed, and then eluded a bit more, “Not just hate- he holds a lot of negativity towards me. I knew this before but I didn’t realize how _much_ there was. And now it’s spreading to his relationship with others. He was practically _yelling_ at David earlier- and I shouldn’t come between people like that.”

“Breeding negativity- being the source of it. It’s one of the worse things I could do as a Shepard.” Daniel explained, “My whole job is to help people bring positive emotions into their life. Not make things worse by being toxic. What if it becomes permanent? And Max holds onto these feelings for the rest of his life?” Daniel asked, resting his hands on the steering wheel and turning to the woman, “I’d never be able to live that down.”

“If that’s the case, then I think leaving is the last thing you want to do.” Green said firmly, “Leaving things behind only stagnates them. Nothing gets resolved, and no conclusion is reached. If you want to clear up the negative feelings between you and Max. Then you need to stay. Stay and resolve the negativity. Not run away.”

“But what if he doesn’t want to?” Daniel feared quietly. Recalling the countless of blank faces that often wrote him off as crazy or insane. Whispering behind his back and lying to him. “What if I make things worse?”

“You’ll never know if you don’t try.” Green said with gravity. "And do you think you could forgive _yourself_ for not trying? I know a lot about regrets young man. Aren't you tired of running?"

Daniel looked down at his lap. His hands were shaking. Some people laughed as they congregated around the car beside him. Getting in and starting up the car. Just normal people getting off after a day at work. None of this heavy emotional decision making and worrying over positive and negative energies. Other people had such easy lives, just living the best ways they could. No idea what kind of strange world existed just in the next car over.

“This world is a hard one to live in.” Green spoke, mirroring his thoughts. She crossed her arms and leaned back into her seat, “It takes work. But you have to _make_ things work, and when you can. You'll accomplish more than most people can even conceive. I’m not going to stop you from leaving Daniel. It’s your road to cross- but take my word for it. You’re never going to find another opportunity to live happy, not like this one. Not even back at your real home.”

“I’m not allowed to go back home.” Daniel admitted quietly, rubbing his palms together. The car beside him drove off.

“Once you,” Daniel swallowed. “Once someone leaves they’re irreversibly contaminated by the negativity of the world. The compounds sheltered from the negativity that radiates down… once you leave you can’t change that. The world changes people.” Daniel admitted, “It’s changed me, for sure.”

“People change Daniel. It’s not necessarily a bad thing.” Green reassured, “Max is changing to. He just lost his family. He’s in a strange place with strangers, and the world we live in is one he’s never been exposed to. Not outside of fiction anyway. His world is still one you've yet to understand. Perhaps you two could change together.”

“But I’m making things worse.” Daniel reminded her. "Because of me he's starting to hate David as well."

“There’s a lot more between David and Max than you. Their relationship was a rocky one to start with, but they’ll find stable waters eventually. I can guaranty that with a third person on hand; they’ll just get their a little faster. They'll need someone to pick them up when times are rough. But like I said, it's your road to cross.” The woman smiled at him, that mischievous glint in her eye. The one that always made it seem like she was seeing something he couldn’t. Which just might have been the case. Daniel searched her expression, and then looked down at the steering wheel in front of him. More specifically the keys hanging there, just within his reach.

In all honesty, he was tired of running. It had never really worked in the past. Maybe Green had a point, for once he ought to try sticking things out. who knew, with a little paitence maybe Max might come around?

"... either way things are going to get worse before they get better." Daniel pointed out. 

"Hmm, but it will be worth it in the end."

“Fine. i'll stay. But … can we stay in the car for a bit longer so I can compose myself? My face is probably horribly red and blotchy.” “Of course.” “I just up and _left_.” Daniel smothered his face with his hands, “What am I going to say?” “That you took some questonable advice from a sketchy, old woman.” “You’re not sketchy- you’re just cryptic.”

“I’m both. Sketptic. Sketchyptic?” The woman cupped her chin, as if deciding which one would be better.

Daniel laughed, more from the break of tension than from thinking the joke was particularly funny. Green seemed to understand this, humming contently. The two of them lapsed into silence, letting the moment pass and reflecting on everything that had just happened.

“You ready to go back?” Green asked after ten or so minutes.

“Yeah, I guess.” Daniel sighed, collecting his phone and the keys from the ignition. Most of everyone had left for the night, leaving the parking lot mostly empty. They waved at a few groups of people chilling outside their mobile homes or the backs of the shops on the way back in, and past some groups of workers who had clearly been drinking.

The woodshop was closed down for the night, but as usual Red was still whittling away in his work shop. He was working on an eagle, spreading its wings out but keeping its body low in a fierce pose.  A good piece that would probably sell tomorrow for a good price. The man looked up briefly as they walked in, and set aside a tool for a different one.

“So, you came back.” Red rumbled in his deep voice, almost disapprovingly. “Welcome home.”

“Thank you.” Daniel said, slowing to a stop in front of the man. Much like a child ready to be reprimanded. Green greeted her husband with a kiss on the cheek and a fond rub of his shoulders.

Daniel watched the exchange and slumped his shoulders. “I’m… sorry.”

“I’m not the one you should be apologizing too.” Red’s tone demanded Daniel to look him in the eyes. Daniel tried, but couldn’t help but look away from the man’s intimidating glare. Red flicked his hand to point his tool towards door to the house proper, “Now go make amends.”

Daniel swallowed the poisonous taste in his mouth, “Right.” He turned and walked obediently towards the door. Hesitating to collect himself for a breath, and opened the door.

There was no loud or exited greeting that met him on the other side. No tears or even shouting. Max was halfway into a plate of spaghetti and making a mess of himself. David had clearly been pacing the room. Halfway between the dining table and the back door, a strained expression on his face. His expression lit up when Daniel walked into the room, but his tone was more stressed than elated.

“You came back.” 

“Yeah, I guess I did.”

Daniel felt as if he might have just realized it himself in that moment. He crossed his arms and stretched his neck to one side, feeling the awkwardness of the room.

“I’m sorry for just leaving like that. I… I guess Max wasn’t the only one feeling negative earlier.”

“Its fine,” David waved the problem aside, taking a step forward, “Just… are you okay?”

“I think I’m going to be.” Daniel admitted. He met Max’s eyes, but looked away. Not able to meet the critical blue gaze. Max was watching him as intently as the hawk Red had been carving. His cat-like eyes not helping the guilt in Daniel’s gut settle one bit.

“Max. I’m sorry. For running off like that, and well, everything else. I know you and I haven’t gotten off to the right start, and I know you don’t trust me. But I really do want to make try to make this work out.”

Max looked him up and down, and then turned to the his plate, practically dismissing him.

“Whatever. I guess this is for the better. David’s a pussy when people leave him.”

“Max!” “What, you think I want to deal with Bonquisha levels of water works?! Without Gwen around?! Fuck that.” “ _Max_.” David turned red, a little more embarrassed this time.

“Whatever, who even gives a shit anyway.” Max grumbled, setting aside his plate of food, he turned off the TV and untangled himself from the couch, hands in his jacket pocket and hunched over with horrible posture. “I’m going to bed.”

“Wait.” David stopped him, turning him around by the shoulder, “Shower first, and then bed. Your jacket probably needs to be washed too hand it over please.”

Max grumbled several curses under his breath, exactly like any moody pre-teen was. Taking off his jacket and throwing it over the back of the couch, all but pouting as he stomped past Daniel upstairs to the wash room.

“I’ll bring your pajamas up to you. Don’t forget to brush.” David called after him. Max replied with a slam of the door, and David sighed, picking up the boy’s jacket.

“I’m sorry, he’s in a sour mood Daniel. I know it seems like he hates you, but it always takes Max a while to warm up to new people and places.” He folded Max’s jacket unconsciously, looking up as the water kicked on above them, “He’s not very good with change. Don’t worry though, so long as you stay positive he’ll turn around.” David smiled reassuringly. He took a step towards the washroom, but turned back to face Daniel.

“I’m glad you decided to give this a try. Welcome home, Daniel.”

“Thanks.” Daniel wasn’t quite sure what else there was to say. He put his hands into his pockets and awkwardly watched David move into the mud room to start up a load of laundry. After a few seconds of that he made his way upstairs, and up the ladder to his room. Or rather, David’s old room.

Usually he would spend the evening after the fair closed down hanging out with some of the other fair workers outback near the fire pit, or with Red and Green down in the workshop. It had been an emotionally draining day though, and he didn’t really feel like doing either of those. He changed into his pajamas and got ready for bed. Doing a purification ritual and meditating to rid himself of some of the toxicity in his system before actually laying down for bed.

Things seemed more hopeful in the morning. He woke up to some birds singing outside his window, and the sun rising. Today was the last day of the fair and after today they would be on the Road for Texas. A change in scenery, and more opportunities to make things right. He’d gotten reply messages from each of his followers over the night as well. His ascending party was on track for tomorrow afternoon.

Maybe he could make things work out afterall.

“I’m going to make today a positive day.” Daniel told his reflection as he shaved that morning. Motivating himself, “No negativity. Think positivity.” He finished shaving and cleaned off his razor, adding it in the small cup he kept his toothbrush and toothpaste in. Fetching those out for use. He emerged from the restroom with a genuine smile on his face and a good feeling about the day.

One that faultered slightly when he met Max on the small landing outside the restroom.

The child had clearly been waiting for him, leaning up against the wall with his hands in his jacket pocket.

“Oh, good morning… Max.” Daniel started happily, but became uncertain. Watching as Max reached out, and dropped a marble into a paper towel roll. The marble knocked over some planks in a domino effect and caused a potted plant to fall off of a precarious set up, and release a balloon. It was a rube-Goldberg project of increasing complexity. Daniel followed it as it went through its course, but jumped a head to see what it would lead to. An act that saved Daniel’s literal head. He scrambled backwards, slipping and falling to the floor two seconds before a brick fell into an empty bucket and pulled the pin on a spring-loaded trap.

A wooden hand axe swung violently, and embedded itself into the wooden frame of the bathroom door way. Swinging directly where Daniel’s head would have been if he hadn’t dropped to the floor.

Max stepped forward, standing slightly above him because of his prone position. Eyes all but glowing with malice as they narrowed in disgust. “Alright Daniel. I think it's time we had our little heart to heart.” The kid threatened, advancing on him. Daniel scrambled to a sitting position and back into the restroom. Max followed, cornering him.

"I don't like you, Daniel. If that wasn't clear before it better be now." Max said, jabbing Daniel in the chest with his finger, "I don't like the fact that you justify killing people, and I don't like that you got away with what you tried to do at the camp. But David's got it in his stupid head that the two of us are going to get along and be some big happy family. So let me tell you something."

Max grabbed Daniel's shirt lapels and Daniel flinched preemptively. Max didn't hit him though, just gave him a burning look that communicated the depths of the child's anger. Daniel felt goosebumps rising up on the back of his neck.

"Family doesn't cut shit and run on each other. What you did last night was inexcusable. Then coming back and pretending like nothing even happened? I ain't forgiving that shit. Do you even know how close David came to crying?!" Max shook his head as if dispelling the image that came to mind, "Do you even know how fucking annoying David gets when he cries?! It's the full water works- like a fucking fire hydrant got popped. Only there are two of them. David fucking lost it for a week when his shitty girlfriend left him. I don't even want to know what he'd be like if he lost a pseudo-brother. You understand?" Max's grip on his shirt tightened, and the boy's glare intensified. Somehow. Daniel could have sworn the boy's eyes were glowing.

"If you're going to be part of this shitty mess then fine, I don't have any fucking say in it. David does whatever the fuck he wants- but if you pull this shit again you're done. That ax isn't going to be coming with a warning system, you hear me? I. Will. End. You."

Max finished his speech, loosening his grip on Daniel's collar a bit and taking a few steadying breaths. Getting a hold on his anger.

"Understand?"

Daniel shook his head furiously, beyond words.

"Good," Max let go of Daniel's collar fully, and stepping away from him, he put a hand on the door and pointed back at him, "Make sure to straiten yourself up before you come down stairs. It looks like a ten year old mugged you or something, fucking pathetic."

Max slammed the door, or tried to. it bounced of the ax and swung back open. Max's feet thumped angrily as he walked down the stairs. Daniel's hands were shaking, his whole body was as he picked himself off the restroom floor and looked at himself in the mirror. He looked horrible- felt horrible too. Usually he wasn't such a coward, but something about Max had paralyzed him and made him seize up. The boy was scary, absolutely terrifying. Like looking into the eyes of a great and powerful reptile.

It took him a few minutes to compose himself, and even then he didn't feel confident enough to wander downstairs. What eventually brought him back to the presence was David coming up to shower and shave himself.

He yawned "Good morning Daniel... is something wrong?"

"No, just finishing up." Daniel lied before he knew what he was saying. Standing up from the counter, as David came into the room, "How are you doing? Get any sleep?"

"None, but i'm used to it." David laughed off his insomnia like it was a joke. The man looked dead tired. There were slight bags under his eyes, and strained. This didn't seem to weigh down his mood like it did for most people though. however he somehow seemed to have missed the mess of things Max had left behind in the landing. "Maybe tomorrow. All this emotional roller coasting makes it a little hard to relax, you know? And the last thing I need is to take my medication and have it fluke on me." David scratched the back of his head uncertainly. "Ambien's kind of tricky."

"You should try meditating. It clears the mind and helps you isolate the impure thoughts plaguing your mind." Daniel suggested. That didn't sound like a bad idea, actually. He could feel the energies still on him from yesterday night- and his interaction just now with Max had added on a fresh layer of negative toxins. He needed a purification ritual, but that took a while. Meditating should help his hands stop shaking at least. "I'm going to go do that now. just... to get myself ready for the day."

"Oh, ok?" David seemed confused as Daniel walked past him, and climbed up into his room without much more prompting.

He stayed up there until it was time to open up the store. The meditating helped out a lot, but he still felt uneasy. Not really sure what to make of the exchange. Or what to do about it all. Maybe things weren't going to work out after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edits: I hey guys I fixed some errors you guys pointed out to me and changed up the last paragraph a little to make it flow better. Have a great day!
> 
> So I'm from Houston, Texas and guess what hit us? Yeah a wonderful fucking hurricane. My mom's house got flooded and we had to relocate her cats to live with me. With all of this happening, and the football season starting the time I had available to write this fic got gutted. The time I have is still gutted. But i'm not giving up!  
> This chapter is actually dedicated to my boyfriend who loves this fanfic as much I love him. He's been my motivation to get writing despite everything that's happened, and a pretty awesome dude overall. Happy Birthday DrPepperBro! I hope you like the absolute 180* change I did for this chapter.
> 
> Writing wise i found it really hard to flesh Daniel out and make him feel the way I want to. I rewrote this three different times because each time it felt like I was shoving his issues asside just so the plot could move along, and came off as super forced. I started from Max's POV, and then switched to David's POV, and after getting really frustrated I realized the problem was that we needed to maybe step away from those two characters for a while. You know, to establish Daniel's character without all of their emotional baggage. Thus I completely backspaced everything I had up until that point and started from scratch! 
> 
> So Ta-Da! Now we have our first Daniel POV chapter. Not something I expected to do at all, but i'm super happy with. Green and Red actually get more of a presence as well, which is great because that's something that turned out really well. For any of you who want more on how the three of them interact, check out the other work in this story collection called "A Place I'm Welcome." it's in the same universe as this story and includes Daniel's back story. The three of them have been living together for a few months by this point, and Daniel has been unofficially kind of adopted by them- but its not really something that's so solid yet. The ending for this chapter actually came to me in a dream, and was what gave me the idea to write from Daniel's POV in the first place. yay REM cycles! (is that when you have dreams? IDK)
> 
> Anyway I hope you enjoy! Comments are of course, always welcome. See you in the next chapter!
> 
> P.S. for any of you guys who have seen the finale, wasn't it so awesome! and heartwarming?! like <3 <3 I loved it! Buuut unfortunately I don't think i'm going to be able to include it as canon in this story. IDK yet, but Campbell was going to be a huge part of the plot for an upcoming bit- and him hating David might not work. Nothing final yet, but I did just want to give you guys a heads up.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The usual saying is that if you give someone an inch, they go a mile, right? Well Max always makes sure to bring it up to the next level. Why stop at a mile after all?
> 
> In which Max is a ten year old with behavior issues and David probably should have taken his pills.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Cursing Vermin for being my awesome Beta! I don't own any of these characters.

# Ch. 10

“Daniel, wait!” David chased after the small, four door silver car with an outstretched hand. For a second Max thought he would triple time it and jump in front of the car- David certainly could have made it. The dude was pretty squirrely after all. Daniel took off quickly though, leaving David behind in the road with his arm out stretched.

David’s hand slowly curled into a fist, and after a minute he lowered it to his side. Staring after the vehicle with an expression Max couldn’t decipher.

David was probably pissed. It was the usual reaction adults had to him screwing things up, or making things go wrong. David didn’t say anything, fetching out his keys and moving over to his own car, but stopping before he interacted with the vehicle to look over at him. Here it was, the disappointed anger, or the leveled threat to punish him later.

Max ducked his head in between his shoulders. Knowing he had screwed everything up. Making Daniel run off hadn’t been his goal, and initially had seemed to be in his favor. But Max hadn’t realized the duplicate meant so much to the counselor.

“Did mom… ?” David asked randomly, squinting his eyes as if thinking.

“Of course.”

Max started at the gravely tone behind him. He whirled around and found David’s father standing behind him.  Feet shoulder width apart and his massive hands on his hips. Shadows obscured his face, but Max could tell he was scowling. Max didn’t know how the giant man had snuck up on him, but he didn’t really care to know.

Max swallowed, knowing he was certainly in for it now.

“Right. Of course she did.” David sighed, placing a hand on his face and rubbing it. He sounded tired, stressed. Like he had just run through a particularly challenging day of the camp. He even paced around a bit. As if he wanted to get into his car and drive after Daniel, but knew he shouldn’t.

“I guess all we can do is wait. Wonderful.” David concluded. He threw up his hands as if that was that, and crossed his arms. Clearly unhappy with the situation. In which Max had no idea what was going on anymore. David’s mother had done something? What? He was so confused.

“Have some faith.” Mr. Green rumbled unhappily.

“Oh like that helps anything.” David practically snapped at his father. The angry edge to his voice surprised Max. First because he had never seen David jump so quickly from concealing his less than happy emotions to expressing them outwardly. Second because of how childish it sounded- like a teenager talking back to their parent.

David’s father was obviously not happy about David’s attitude. He stood like a brick wall, unmoving and unimpressed.

“Don’t be childish.”

“I’m not being childish. I’m _concerned_.” David emphasized with his hands, his anger rising. In a very childish manor, Max might add. “There’s a difference- no I am not having this argument with you.” David waved his hands in a cutting motion, as if realizing he was stressing out way to much over nothing.

He pressed a hand to his face and closed his eyes.

“… come on, we should wait for them back at the house.” David said once he had composed himself, “Ren’s waiting for us, and Max hasn’t eaten.” He counted off reasons, pocketing his keys. He made his way over to Max, putting a hand on his shoulder and guiding him back towards the fair.

“What about Daniel?” Max asked, looking between David and the road.

“Mom’s taking care of it. Let’s just… let’s just try not to make this day any more interesting.” David sighed.

Max gave the dark road one more skeptical look, and allowed himself to be sheared towards the gate. He led the way through, with David behind him and Mr. Green following silently.

“… I didn’t really mean to make him run away, you know that right?” Max tested the waters, uncertainly. Trying to gauge how much trouble he was going to be in. He wondered what kind of bizarre punishment David’s family enacted on their kids. Being all militant serial killers or whatever. Would he have to do pushups, like in the military movies he had seen? He hoped not, Max wasn’t very good at exercises and stuff.

David sighed, and spoke with an understanding tone, “I know Max. But you never know a person’s full story. You really shouldn’t say things unless you mean them- and I know you were angry at the time and didn’t intend for him to overhear all of that. But that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen- and actions have consequences.”

“Let’s just, try to be more positive next time.” Oh no, there was that never ending positivity David always seemed to be able to pull out of nowhere. His tone lightened and the stressed edge he had to his voice all but disappeared as he stretched out his arms, then brought them back to rest on his head. “We’ll apologize to Daniel of course, and talk things out. Everything will turn out for the better.”

Max groaned internally. He expected David to continue, but he didn’t. After a while Max blinked.

Oh, wow. Was he really getting off with just that? Max snuck a look over his shoulder to see if David was just bluffing. David looked tired, but he was pushing through with a fake smile. Mr. Green behind him was still scowling. Talk about a strong resting bitch-face. But he didn’t say anything.

The fair was fully shut down for the night. All the shops were closed and it was dark, but the streets were filled with people still. Not visitors, but of workers. Many milled about in groups and talked with one another, or were walking towards the parking lot half way out of their costumes. Lots of people were smoking and drinking. Max saw a bar down one of the roads which seemed to be having a full time party with all of its lights on and music playing. Several of the groups they passed smelled like weed.

The street the shop was on was far from vacant, a group of teenagers and young adults actually hanging out in the shop front, which was one of the few stalls with its lights still on. It was a weird mix of people. Ranging from a teenage girl dressed like little red riding hood to a blonde guy in clunky armor that Max actually recognized as one of the jousters from the arena. A pretty poor one at that, the dude had fallen off his horse on more than one occasion. More of a fool than an actual competitor. Mr. Green made his way past the group, but David lagged behind to say hello.

“Hey David.” “Welcome back. Man.” “Dude how have you been?”

David high fived a girl with long blonde hair and tried to do the same with the guy in knights armor, but the clumsy idiot missed before connecting. The group was mostly girls, with one guy. Six in total. One of the girls was dressed as in a winter fairy that was really pretty. The others were dressed in costumes people usually wore around the stalls though one of them in particular seemed to be going for a Red Riding Hood theme with a long red cloak.

Said girl practically spazzed out once she saw David.

“You’re back!” Max covered his ears. God the girl’s voice was really high pitched. She jumped up and down excitedly like a little kid. “It’s been so long. Daniel’s nice and all but he’s not as chill as you. You know? It was really weird since you two are practically identical. It was really confusing for a while. You have a cousin?! That’s new! Well besides your actual cousin- but a cousin I haven’t met yet? Like mind-blown.”

“I’m glad to see you too Ruby.” David said steadily, unfazed by the spaz. “How have you been?”

“Good, you know. College is about to get back into session. We’re enjoying things while we can.” The girl was in College? Max would have pegged her as a high school student if anything. She was clearly the youngest of the group though, probably not a few years older than Arid. Max quickly did an age assessment and guessed the others were just younger than David. Definitely college students then.

“How was camp? Anything exciting happen?” “It was a lot of fun.” David replied with a really generic answer.

Well Max just couldn’t well and let that stand, now could he? Max poked out from behind David’s leg. Making it _much_ less generic. “He faked a moon landing, and got decked by Buzz Aldrin.”

The group of young adults blinked down at him clearly not having seen him until now. “What?”

“He also beat a guy over the head with a chair for stealing his girlfriend.” Max grinned mischievously.

The lack of rebuttal from earlier empowering him. He wanted to test how much it would take for David to snap. “And there was this other time when we took over the camp. That was fun, wasn’t it Davey?” he pulled at the leg of David’s pants, grinning slyly, “We tied you upside down to the flag pole. Remember?”

“Yes Max, I remember.” David cleared his throat and placed a hand behind Max’s back, “Guys this is Max. He was one of my campers this year.”

“David.” A girl with freckles and strawberry blonde hair stepped forward and comically shook her finger at him, “What did we tell you about kidnapping people?”

“I’m not kidnapping anyone, Nora.” David raised his hands in mock defense.

“If anything it’s consensual. My parents suck. Consensual kidnapping? Is that a thing?” Max looked up to ask David.

“Let’s just call it… surprise adoption.” David decided, “Since that’s what it is. No need to give it a title that implies we did something illegal.”

“Oh! You adopted him?” Ruby put her hands on her cheeks and squealed. Looking two seconds from giving him a ‘you are so cute’ hug. God, weebs and their lack of boundaries. Max braced himself for the inevitable invasion of space, but David save him. Grabbing Ruby by the hood before she could get within range.

“Ruby, don’t.” He picked her up by the hood like she was a cat. Something David had done to him several times before and was surprisingly effective.

“Yeah you hug me and I’ll shank you.” Max took a step back so he wasn’t in immediate range, to stand more behind David where it was safe. He watched the safe little bubble of happiness popping in Ruby’s eyes. Turning them into pinpoints of disbelief that he would say such a thing, comical tears leaking out of them. Good.

One of the girls in the back chuckled though. A black haired chick with fake cat ears. The blonde girl beside her grinned as well.  “Oh nice. Your new son’s got some balls on him.” She punched David in the arm as if to show her approval. David had to catch himself from the impact, and laughed awkwardly. Setting a now silently crying Ruby down. “Thanks, Yang. I guess?”

The back door to the shop opened, and an asian man with long black hair stepped out. He was about the same age as the others, wearing a wizard/sorcerer type uniform. One that kind of looked like the one Mrs. Green had been wearing that morning, actually.

“Hey Ren. Finally done for the day?” The red haired girl, Nora, asked amiably, “Pyrrah’s waiting for us over by the food court.”

“Hmm.” Ren nodded, walking towards her. His eyes jumped over the group, landed on David, Max, and then the back door. Then David again. “Hello David. Is this Max? Where’s Daniel?”

“Daniel’s-” Max started, but David interrupted him before he could say something sarcastic. “ _Daniel_ is out for a drive.”

Ren raised his brows but didn’t question it. Turning to his group of friends. “The guys and I were going to go over to the bar and get some drinks. Did you want to come?”

“I would love to but I should really stay and get Max some dinner.” David said, putting his hands on Max’s shoulders, as if he thought the kid would try to run.

“Laaaame.” “Ruby, he’s got a kid.” “What kind of kid doesn’t like hugs? I love hugs.” “Well you certainly are a kid.” “Weiss, that’s mean!” Ruby and the White Fairy exchanged banter. The blonde hair girl rolled her eyes and made them move along towards the door, her cat friend helping her.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Ren said, the red head at his shoulder waving good bye.

“Yeah it was uh, nice to meet you Max.” the blonde knight said nervously, tailing up the end of the group.

Max looked up at David.

“I didn’t know you drank alcohol, David. What ever happened to your perfect goody-to-shoes life style?”

“There’s a difference between a few drinks and telling a whole camp full of kids that it’s okay to drink alcohol Max.” David pointed out. Max couldn't argue with that. The two of them turned to walk into the wood shop.

“And I could have sworn you hated the goody-to-shoes play. But if you want-” “Oh god no.” “-I would be happy to oblige!” David said, ramping the positivity up to eleven. His voice raising in pitch and picking up that sing-song pattern that rubbed Max the wrong way. “Now let's see where to start? I am so happy to see you interacting with others so well. Your execution need work but I am certain with time and patience we can improve-”

“David stop! Please! I will tear out my ear drums.” Max pressed his hands to his temples.

“Only because you asked nicely.” David grinned, opening the door to the back work room, making an ‘after you' motion.

“God, I never realized you were such an ass hole.”

“Good, then I’m doing my job.” David grinned, and then back tracked. “You know, the not being an asshole to kids part. Not the being an asshole to you part.”

They settled on spaghetti for dinner. Max settling on the couch flipping through channels. David cooking in the kitchen, and Mr. Green working on a wood carving out in the workshop. David asked how Max’s day had gone, and he recounted all of the trouble he had caused. David, once again, didn’t chide him for doing bad things, if anything he seemed to find it amusing.

Though Max wondered if he was wholly listening. David was clearly distracted, starring off into space. He didn’t even notice when a pot started to boil over, though he was looking directly at it for a good half-minute. Max figured that he was still worried about Daniel. This proved true when they settled down to eat, and David kept starring at the door while poking at his food.

“Dude, its fine. Don’t worry about it.” “I'm not I’m just- anxious.” “Which is worrying about it.” Max pointed out, “Look your mom went to- do something right?” “Yeah.” “And you know your mom's not going to just let him drive away because he flipped out over something a ten year old said?”

Less confidently, “...Yeah.” “So then don’t worry about it.”

“I’m- I’m too tired for this shit.” David admitted, putting down his fork and rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands.

“David.” Max put down his fork, “Language.”

David huffed and dropped his head onto the table. Laughing quietly for a few seconds. He sat back up and gathered his plate up.

“Never change Max.” The fondness in his voice was evident, and he ruffled his hair as he walked past.

“Yeesh David at this rate you're going to let me get away with murder.” Max called after him, leaning back in his chair. David said nothing in return, putting his leftovers in some plastic ware.

Max drummed his fingers on the table thoughtfully. Then artfully pushed some noodles off his plate. David didn’t notice even after he came back and started to pace around the room. Clearly not taking his advice on worrying. Max pushed some more food off his plate in between bites, testing how much he could get away with.

They heard some voices from up front and waited. Daniel entering, and what happened afterwards had to be the most underwhelming thing ever. The dude basically apologizing and reset everything back to where it had been before all of this drama. Though Max could have sworn he made it clear to the man that he wasn’t accepting any apologizes he gave him. But he conceded to keep things where they were. Just so Daniel wouldn’t cry, and David could chill for a bit.

He assumed the two of them talked after he went upstairs. When he was done with his shower Daniel was nowhere to be seen. David was sitting on the couch, changed into some pajamas and starring at a giant package of pills labeled ‘friends.’

Max grinned and forwent the last few steps of the stairs to launch himself over the back of the couch.

“Oh so you do drugs too? Sweet!” he reached for the container. David's hand shot out and grabbed his arm. Max had miscalculated his momentum however, and David had to let go of his arm to catch him around the waist and keep him from toppling over the front of the couch into the coffee table.

“Max!” David's voice was a mixture of surprise and concern. Max rolled over and swiped at the bottle. David picked it up in one hand, and him in the other, an arm around his waist.

“Max no.”

“What are they?”

“These are my sleeping pills.” David said sternly, then sighed in exasperation, “Sleep I guess I am not getting tonight.” He said, walking over to the back corner of the living room. There was a wooden cabinet there, but inside of it was a metal safe. David angled him away so he couldn’t see him type in the code, but by with some effort he got a good look at the- guns. Not small ones wither, or BB guns. Like wow, any doubt he had about David’s family coming from Texas evaporated in an instant. He also recalled David’s mother mentioning about the two of them kind of not being in the military? That could also account for things.

David situated his pills inside besides a case of what Max assumed was ammo, and closed the door to the safe, making sure it was locked. “You’re clearly in a mischievous mood. So I better not risk it.”

Max blinked up at David, “You take sleeping pills?”

“Yes.” David admitted, looking tired as he carried him back to the couch. Max hanging at his hip as David’s arm encircled and kept him there like a basket of clothes. “I often have trouble getting to sleep. It’s not a big deal though. I take my medication when I can.”

“Do you know what I do when I can't sleep?” Max gripped David's arm around his waist to steady himself, kicking his feet slightly. He did have a whole lot of energy, not that David mentioned it. Maybe it was the coffees he had had earlier? Or maybe he was at that point where you were lacking so much sleep you just kind of stayed awake?

“I build a fort and watch movies. We should totally do that. Maybe a western? Or a romance? Those always put me to sleep. Want to try doing that? I bet it would work.”

David opened his mouth and closed it with a sly smile. “Are you trying to trick me into a movie night so you can stay up later?” “Maybe, you don’t know.” Max said a bit too quickly, but then grinned “Is it working?”

David smirked, looking amused. “Sure, why not?” Max pumped his arms in victory and wiggled out of David's grasp.

They didn’t go full pillow fort, which was something Max had always secretly wanted to do. But David helped him build a nest of blankets on the sofa. The two settling down together like a Russian doll. Mr. Honeynuts in his lap, and he in David’s. It was borderline cuddling, but Max didn’t care all that much.

They started watching some western Mr. Green had in his DVD collection, and moved onto another after that. David's parents came in during that one and didn’t seem too happy with how late Max was staying up. David promised them that they wouldn’t be up for much longer and they went to bed. Max couldn’t help but giggle at the blatant lie. They got one more movie in, some space on involving time travel which Space Kid probably would have found amazing. Max drifted asleep towards the later half of the movie an hour later. A combination of the smell of pine David always seemed to carry around and David himself gently running his fingers through his hair absent mindedly making him sleepy.

Max woke up to the sound of the shower above him turning on. The smell of bacon being cooked, and no David. Max groaned, turned over and poked his head out of the blankets.

“Hmm, David?”

“Good morning, Max.” David smiled at him from the kitchen. Starting up some eggs and toast. The smile didn’t fool Max. He could see the now-prominent bags under his eyes.

“Did you not go to sleep last night?” “I got a little sleep. Thanks for the suggestion. It was a good one.” “You’re lying.” “What? I would never-” “You're putting cream cheese on the toast instead of butter.” Max pointed out. David blinked down at the toast he was cooking and cursed. Taking all of the bread he had put onto the pan so far off and confirming that yeah- he had kind of screwed that up.

“I’m going to go see if any of the other adults are awake.” Max sat up, and untangled himself from the blankets, “They’re definitely more qualified to do this.”

With David preoccupied, Max felt an opportunity arise. His ‘mood’ for causing trouble not quite satiated. He rubbed his hands together and checked up the stairs before making his way into the wood shop. No one around. Perfect. Still being on Camp schedule and waking up at the crack of dawn had its perks. He did feel a little bad about using David's lack of sleep against him- but Max could put that aside easily enough.

He had a point to get across, and he would make it. David hadn’t so far been surprised or punished him for anything he had done at Camp- which made him just want to go further. See what it would take to actually get David’s attention. He also had a point he needed to make, so he already had a good idea of what he could do.

Max collected most of what he would need from downstairs, and after poking his head in to see that David's back was turned, carried them all upstairs. The restroom door was immediately to the right as you came up them, the master bedroom to the left. Max put his ear to the bedroom door, but didn’t quite have to go to those lengths to hear Mr. Green snoring. He couldn’t hear anyone moving around so he was in the clear. There was someone in the restroom. A quick knock told him who.

Daniel’s voice filtered through the wood. “Hello?”

Score. “Hey man don’t use up all of the hot water. David's got to take a shower too.”

Max didn’t wait for an answer, emptying all of the equipment he had scrounged up onto the floor in front of the restroom. The trick to these kind of traps was to start from the end and work your way to the front. So he started with the wire trap which would swing the axe, and then the release for that. Working step by step and making it more elaborate as he went. All too soon the water turned off though, and Max scrambled to finish. He paused momentarily when Daniel started talking to himself.

“Today is going to be a positive day.”

“Keep telling yourself that.” Max said under his breath. Setting up the final trap. He double checked everything and stood leaning against the wall.

Daniel opened the door and Max got a good look of the evolution of emotions on his face as found Max waiting for him. A general happiness, then some dread, and then caution. Max dropped the marble, and his terms. Making things clear enough that this time hopefully the man wouldn’t forget them after having a cry about it. Certainly all the blonde was feeling when he went back down stairs was fear.

Max walked down the stairs with his hands in his pockets, feeling victorious.

“Is Daniel out of the shower?” David asked, looking up from a clearly failed breakfast. He had managed to burn the bacon and eggs, and was scrapping the charred remnants into a trash can.

“Yeah, here let me help you with that.” “No. No offense Max, but I don’t think-”

“Nope, nope. None of that.” Max pushed David away from the mess he had made if the eggs. “I’m ten and have basically had to feed myself for the last few years. I can handle some eggs.” He turned towards the stove. The counter a good six inches from the top of his head.

“God damn you and your tall genes. Get me a chair.” “No- and I mean it this time. No cooking.”

David turned off the stove and picked him up. Double checked that the stove was off and carried him into the living room, depositing him onto the couch.

“Here, sit tight and tell Gwen how much you hate it here. I’ll get mom to make some breakfast.” David picked his phone off the table and dialed a number. Giving him the phone and patting him on the head before starting to dig through his pack for a change of clothes.

The phone rung once, twice, and then a grumpy sounding woman answered the phone.

“Why the hell are you calling me at this hour?” “I’m not. David's making you babysit me while he takes a shower.” “Fuck that. Am I getting paid?” Max moved the phone away from his mouth and turned to David.

“Is she getting paid for this?” “Sure, why not.”

Max turned back to Gwen. “He says yes. But he's like super delirious.”

Gwen sighed, “How delirious? Did he sleep last night?” “No.” “Tell him to take his fucking pills.”

“Tell her I tried, but _Max_.” David said exasperated, pulling some clothes out from his bag and spoke to the ceiling. 

“Tell him Max is smart enough not to OD on fucking sleeping pills. If you tell him he what they are.” Gwen shot back.

Usually Max didn’t like being talked over, but this was just to hilarious to pass up. He turned the phone to face David so it would pick up his voice.

“Fight fight fight. Kiss kiss.”

David just raised an eyebrow and Gwen choked on what Max suspected was laughter. Max appreciated that she at least understood the reference.

“I'm taking a shower now. Make sure he doesn’t touch the stove.” “I’m not even in the room, what the hell do you expect me to do?”

“And this is why he's delirious.” Max threw and arm over the back of couch to make sure David at least made it up the stairs. He heard David and Daniel talking, and then the door close. Awesome the dude had been sleep deprived enough not to notice his trap. He was probably used to stepping over them at the camp or something. Once Max was in the clear he put the phone back up to his ear.

“So how long has Davey had sleeping problems?” “I don’t know. Like since forever.” “I’m not surprised. His family’s super weird.”

“No details. I don’t need the police knocking on my door. Again.” It sounded like Gwen was getting up from her bed, “Jesus it's 7am.”

“Yeah, I know right? Who the fuck is up at this time?!” “ _You_ woke me up.” “Well David woke me up.”

“And now you've woken me up.”

Max jumped slightly, and turned around to find Mrs. Green standing behind the sofa with her hands on her hips. “Jesus.”

“Two for two. Tell Gwendolyn I say hello.” The old woman smiled, and turned to head into the kitchen. Shaking her head humorously at the mess David had left behind.

“Was that David's mother?” “You've met?” “She’s got a thing for sneaking up on people.” “I'd say that’s the least of it.” Max huffed, sitting back properly in the couch. He played with one of Honeynut's ears. “David's dad has this resting bitch face from hell, and Daniel's here. Did David tell you that?”

“Who’s Daniel?” “That temporary co-consoler you guys hired on- you know David's evil twin?” “Interesting.” Gwen said, and he could hear the sound of a fridge opening and closing, “I never would have pegged David as a narcissist. Are they a thing?”

“ **Gwen**. David's already having sleeping issues, please don’t give me nightmares.” “You’d deserve them. I guess that was when he and Bonquisha were still going strong anyway. Oh, did you hear? The bitch is going to state next week.” “State? For what?” “Weight lifting bro. She's like super woman.”

Max wanted the full details. Interested as always to hear about David’s ex-girlfriend. He still couldn’t believe the two of them had been dating for so long and no one had found out. So many missed opportunities… In turn he told Gwen about all of the trouble he had not gotten into yesterday, and recounted all of the fun rides he had gone on.

He didn’t have the time to tell her about the incident with his fake ID though. His luck ran out after David finished his shower.

“ _Maaax_.” David’s disapproving tone carried down from upstairs.

“Uh-oh. I think David noticed the death trap.” Max sat up and looked up the stairs. “Death trap? You know what? I don’t want to know.” “Well if you never hear from me again you know who’s responsible.”

“Oh please, we both know you probably deserve it.” Gwen said jokingly, then yawned. “Remind David that he owes me some money once he gets a good night’s sleep. In which case- make sure he fucking takes his pills.”

“Sure, whatever. Talk to you later.” Max said, and hung up the phone as David came back down the stairs. He certainly looked more aware than he had been earlier. The shower helping him wake up probably. That being said he did look quite annoyed.

David held up the ax, unamused. “Max. What is this?”

He feigned ignorance. “Uh, a hand ax I guess? I don’t know. I’m not a lumbar jack.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanted to post this real quick before work! Comments are always appreciated!
> 
> Edit: Okay so i'm back from work! Sorry, I figured you guys would want the actual chapter sooner than later. I certainly wanted to get the chapter up as soon as possible because I had a lot of fun writing it! 
> 
> As you can probably guess- all the characters we introduced this chapter are a reference to something. That something is another Rooster Teeth show called RWBY. Which is really hard to explain, but super awesome. Check out the trailers at least. These characters aren't going to become major plot devices or anything like that, I'm just a super nerd and like to plant easter eggs where I can. It also helps expand the world a lot as well. I've already made a few RvB references, and there will certainly be more to come.
> 
> For those of you interested in all the nerd-um- Ren actually works as Green's assistant. Something we'll get into next chapter. David knows the Ruby cast by extension, and they've hung out a few times but he's more of a tag-along friend than a close one. All of the Rwby characters are college students that are friends and work at the fair. I don't have much more than that hashed out. We'll see where it goes, I guess.
> 
> Anyway I'm off to work on chapter 11. Thanks a lot for ya'lls support!


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's about four days into sleep that David finally finds the essence of being a Dad.   
> Edit: altered the ending to be more in character.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own any of these characters.
> 
> Cursing-Vermin hasn't gotten around to editing this chapter yet, but I wanted to post this anyway. so forgive me if i missed a few things. More of an explanation in the end note.
> 
> Edit. This chapter has now been edited.

# Ch. 11

“Max. What is this?” David asked indicating to the ax.

It had been a rough morning. It had been a rough couple of days, actually. Four days without sleep had left David with a head ache and a shorter rope. A rope Max was quite possibly reaching the end of.

“I don’t know, a hand ax?” Max shrugged, pretending to be uninvolved with the rube gold-berg death trap he had constructed. Four days without sleep had also decreased David’s cognitive awareness. As was indicated by the mess he had made in the kitchen, and the fact that he hadn’t even noticed the death trap Max had set up until he couldn’t close the bathroom door- _after_ taking his shower.

His lack of sleep had not made him stupid, however. Gwen might be able to get away with the occasional ‘you’re dreaming’ ploy when he was this tired; but David knew he hadn’t taken his pills last night. So there was no chance that he was hallucinating the ax in his hands.

“Upstairs now.” David said sternly, pointing up said steps. “Clean up your death trap, put everything back. _Or-_ ” David cut Max off before he could speak up, “No coffee for breakfast.”

“What?” Max stood up on the couch, holding his hands on the back for balance, “No fair! I didn’t know you could dad!”

David’s mother chuckled, amused, from the kitchen where she was cleaning up the poor attempt at breakfast he had butchered. Max seemed to disagree with her sentiment, looking over towards her. “No seriously he’s usually pretty shit at this kind of stuff. We practically get away with murder at camp. ”

“You can’t expect two people- well one and a half since Gwen doesn’t help half the time- to be able to properly handle ten, fifteen children perfectly.” David massaged his temples. “So let me make this clear now. This is one of those things that is going to change. You are my responsibility now, which means that if I have to ‘dad’ I will. Now let’s go upstairs and clean up this mess, and when Daniel comes down stairs you are going to apologize to him.”

Max turned back to him and blinked, taking in his words. The boy then gathered himself up and crossed his arms. “What if I say no?”

“Max, please, do not argue with me on this.” David stood firm. “It will not end well.”

“Ooh, is that a threat?” Max smirked. He was clearly testing him. Wonderful.

“No breakfast, _and_ you're losing your fair privileges.”

“I think I can live with that.” Max said disinterestedly.

“You'll be here in the shop all day.” David warned. “Standing. In the corner where I can watch you.”

“What, like in time out?” Max huffed a bit of laughter. “Yeah sure. Bring it on.”

“Max do you really want to make this decision for yourself?” His mother asked, a warning tone in her voice. Probably knowing full well that by Standing David didn’t mean on his feet.  “You would rather choose a punishment rather than owning up to your actions?”

“It’s just a simple death trap. There’s no need to be so cryptic about it.” Max waved his hand in dismissal towards his mother. “Daniel had plenty of time to duck. I doubt the ax would have even killed him if it had landed.”

Which was either a lie, or Max didn’t realize how vulnerable a human neck was. The ax had dug into the door frame a good four inches. Well enough to cause anyone serious harm. David hoped it was the first, that Max was bluffing. David did not think he manage to lecture Max on bodily injuries without nightmares. David closed his eyes and took a meditative breath. It was going to be a long day.

“So you want to this the difficult way then?” “Oh I think we both know this isn’t even the start of how difficult I can be.” “Alright then, let's get this over and done with. Standing, now.”

David indicated for Max to go into the to the work shop. Maybe he was being a bit too cross, but David was short on patience. If Max wanted to do things the hard way then so be it. Man, David could really go for some coffee right now. Though what he really needed was a good night's sleep…

Max crossed his arms and remained on the couch, stubborn to do anything. “No.” “ **Max**.” “Fine.”

The kid buckled as David use a sterner tone. Not something David liked doing, but Max was clearly in a _mood_ so it was necessary. David waited for the boy to get in front of him before following him into the workshop. Close behind so the kid wouldn’t get a chance to run.

His mother followed the two of them, still amused. It made him wonder if he was ever like this as a kid- David assumed so. He had a stubborn streak that did nothing to dissuade any of the red head stereotypes.

‘Standing’ was a family punishment that Dad said his father would give to him, and his father before him and his father before that... it was a family punishment. Essentially a time out, like Max had said. But there was a twist to it that his great-something father had picked up as a prisoner of war in Japan. Something David had done more than a few times as a child himself.

David picked up a 1”x4” board from the wood his father used to make dowels with. He handed one to Max. “Take this.”

“What is this supposed to be some kind of switch? Are you going to _really_ hit me David? Wow that’s dark.” Max spoke jokingly. David hoped it stayed that way. He would never want Max to think he would outright abuse him. Max took the board and set it on the ground like a walking staff.

“No. You hold it above your head.” David supplied, motioning him into a corner where he would be out of the way.

“What?”

“You hold it above your head. If you drop it, or argue. You get a second board.”

“Lame.” Max set the board on end and let it go. The wood clattered onto the floor at David’s feet.

David picked it up, as well as another one. Dropping both of them against Max’s chest, making the boy catch them instinctively. Now the boy had two.

“If you drop them or argue you get another board Max.” David explained in a level tone. “You choose to do this instead of listening to my instructions. I would have rather you just clean up your mess. ”

Max pulled a face down at the boards. Probably realizing how much of a pain the punishment would be if he actually went through with it. He glanced up at David, and dropped the boards. He made the motion to put his hands into his jacket pocket, but seemed to forget that said article of clothing was still in the dryer. He settled for putting them on his hips instead.

“This is corporal punishment. I'm fairly- **no** one hundred percent certain as my adoptive family this falls under abuse. I would know. I filled out the paperwork.” Max was definitely testing him. Which was tedious. David was certain that he would have never have done such a thing to his original parents, since he was scared of them. This was Max testing his boundaries. Seeing how much of a mile he could get out of an inch.

David steeled himself mentally. Definitely going to be a long day.

“Max, as far as punishments go, this one is fairly mild. Which, mild corporal punishment is accepted as disciplinary action in this country. In fact if anything the adoption make this more legal. It’s not assault if I’m your legal guardian.” David pointed out. He held up three boards for Max. Max seemed a bit turned around by the loop-hole he had twisted into there, but stayed firm in his refusal to go take the wood boards.

“Max I’m reminding you that you chose to do this.” David said, not breaking eye contact, nudging the boards and indicating that he should take them. The two of them were staring each other down. Seeing who would be the first to cave.

“All this started with was me asking you to clean up and apologize. You chose to be difficult, and if you choose to be more difficult the punishments will only be worse.” David took on a firm tone.

Max sneered, but finally caved. Taking the boards from him. “Fine. But only because you’re militant family would probably resort to me having to polish shoes or something stupid.”

“I wouldn’t call it stupid. Learning to clean guns by muscle memory is a very important skill.” Mom said humorously. Recalling back to when she would have him polish the guns for ‘not thinking things through’. David’s parents had a lot of guns, David could already smell the oil and wrinkled his nose with distaste. Mom handed David a mug of coffee and patted him on the shoulder. “I’ll go finish up breakfast. You boys try not to cause too much trouble for one another.”

Coffee. _Yes_. David definitely needed this. He took a deep draught from mug, ignoring the heat. Feeling the energy he had gotten from the shower become a little more permanent. He finished it halfway and then set it aside for later.

Max watched David consume the brown liquid with jealousy. “Great I’ve signed myself up with a family of sadists.”

“Hey you had plenty of options to turn this around.” David pointed out. “Mom even warned you. But you chose to be difficult.” He took a sip of his coffee.

“Now no more delaying, sir.” David raised his brows, indicating to the three pieces of wood still cradled in Max’s arms. “Raise up those boards, or get a fourth. We can switch you to 2” by 4”s if you think those are too light. Dad had me holding whole logs when I was particularly unwilling to start.” David set a hand on one of the raw chunks of wood piles off to the side and rapped it with his knuckles. Indicating to its solidarity. “They’re heavier than cinderblocks.”

Max glared at them, then at the wood in the crooks of his arms. He cursed and grumbled, but picked up the boards above his head. David watched him sway a bit, taking another sip of his coffee.

“It helps if you put your feet shoulder width apart and stand up straight.”

“Fuck you David.”

“I didn’t want to do this Max. But we have to start drawing the lines sometime.”

“So you draw it at me threatening someone?” Max asked, straining against weight the boards slightly, and finding his balance. “Great priorities there man.”

“Like I said, this is one of those things that is going to change.” David collected some tools and sized up one of their raw logs, figuring he might as well do something productive. They were definitely going to be here for a while. David set a log on the word space and put a chisel on the log in front of him, just on the edge, and hammered down. Peeling off a chunk of bark. “I can’t let you go and do things like this without consequences. I know you don’t like Daniel, and I know you don’t like this situation. But acting out like this is not a productive way to deal with the issue. Someone could have gotten hurt. You need to know that is unacceptable, and think of a safer way to express your feelings.” David wiped off some of the wooden scraps and tried to turn the mood to something more positive. He smiled, “Maybe we can brainstorm together. What kind of stuff are you interested in?”

“I'll show you how to express feelings.” Max grumbled under his breath. Completely ignoring his remarks suggestions. David let it slide, going back to peeling the log in front of him.

The two of them fell into silence. Max glaring at him with hate and David continued to work away at the log. His Dad kept up a store of items, so they didn’t particularly need to carve any more, but putting the physical effort into making something helped David work out the stress of the situation. It had been a long four days, and it was nice to focus on something a little more productive than this revolving door of dealing with issues this week had become.

David kept an eye on Max as he worked, making sure he was keeping the planks up. Max watched him work, but looked away pointedly whenever David happened to look up. Max seemed to be having no trouble holding up the boards up. However David knew from experience it would take some time for the burning to start up. After ten minutes his father came out from the house. Dressed in his working costume with his own mug of coffee.

“The hat’s coming out crooked.” Dad grunted, after giving the gnome David had decided to carve a cursory glance.

“Yeah, I can see that. I missed a stroke.” David bristled defensively. He knew his dad was trying to be helpful, but would settling just for a ‘good morning’ kill him? This was why they never got along well.

His father didn’t seem to notice his agitation. Setting his coffee down, and giving Max an unreadable look before turning back to David. “Go eat breakfast. I'll set this aside so you can finish it later.”

“Right.” David started putting the tools away, looking over to Max. He felt like he should say something. A reminder perhaps that he had to keep behaving even if he was leaving the room. But he opted not to. Knowing the kid would probably do something just because he had spoken up.

David instead turned back to his father, “Leave the bark. I'll sweep it up here in a second.”

“That's Yellow's job.” Red rumbled, running his hand over the edge of one of the blanks, sizing them up. “Make sure he gets down here soon.”

David gave his dad an unconscious salute and headed back into the house. Taking the first step onto the stairs and leaning up them.

“Daniel! I know you're meditating or whatever, but we've got an hour until open!”

“David. Please.” Ren, his mother's assistant, spoke up from the kitchen table. Cradling his head in one hand, “Don't shout.”

“Oh. Sorry.” David stepped of the stairs and joined him in the dining area. “You're hear early. Good morning.”

“I stayed over at Ruby's.” “You guys have fun last night?” “Yang started a fight. Nora dragged everyone in.” “A fight? With who?” “The whole bar.” Ren held out his arms and shook his head.

“Ah, I remember those days. Back when I was a youth like you guys.” David teased. He made his way into the kitchen. Picking up a water bottle from the pack beside the pantry. He motioned to throw it over the counter.

“Hydrate. This will help.” “Thanks.” Ren caught the bottle. He frowned, unscrewing the cap. “Wait. You’re only five, four years older than me?”

“Yeah. Don’t remind me.” David huffed, finding a plate of egg sandwiches on the counter which mom had left for him.

“When you get into this kind of life style, you grow up pretty quickly. Lessons come hard, and they come fast. Yang and Ruby will find that out soon enough, if they follow their family’s footsteps.” David explained, referring to the mercenary work his parents had raised him around. Ruby’s father and uncle were mercenaries as well. Well, their father was ex-mercenaries like his own parents, though Qrow’s was still active in the Red team. No one was surprised by his early retirement. The job wasn’t something you wanted to be doing when you had two kids to think about. Not to mention his wife dying like that... yeah.

“Don’t get me wrong. Yang is a gifted fighter. Fast, strong, smart. But one day soon she's going to come across something she can’t punch her way out of.” David pored himself a second cup of coffee. “You need brains as much as brawn.”

“Like your parents?” “What about my parents?”

“I mean, your dad is so,” Ren flexed his arms, “and your mom is uh…” Ren dropped his arms, to tap his chin, not really sure what to say. David had been there before. His parents weren’t the easiest to describe. “They just seem to balance each other out.”

“Yeah, I guess so. But it was more than just them on Blue Team.” David explained, sitting down at the table beside Ren. “If you want to be one of the best, you have to be balanced yourself, as well as within the team. You can’t bring everyone down to your level, you have to be on equal footing.”

David rested his elbows on the table and took a bite of his sandwich, “If that makes sense anyway. I don’t have any personal experience. I decided to work with Campbell pretty early on, so I never went on any actual missions. It’s just my understanding of things.”

Ren took a drink of his water, contemplating something. “David. I think you underestimate how much broader your ‘understanding’ of things is compared to normal people.”

David rolled his eyes, putting down his sandwich, “I’m not being psychic here Ren. How many times do I have to tell you, I’m not like my mom. I just think things through.”

Ren gave him a doubtful look, but continued drinking from his water bottle instead of saying anything.

The stairs creaked behind them, and they both half-turned to find that it was Daniel. The blonde was fully dressed for the day, but he looked a little on edge. Like an ax might come swinging at him from out of nowhere. Daniel looked fully around the room before taking the last few steps onto the landing. When he spoke it was with a nervous smile. “Good… morning.”

“Good morning.” David replied, after another bite of his sandwich. He spoke with his mouth half full, a hand in front of his mouth. “You can relax. Max is in the workshop with my Dad.” Daniel did relaxed a bit at being told this. David swallowed his food, turning to face the blonde more. “Look, Daniel. I’m sorry. I had no clue what Max was up to- I shouldn’t have let him out of my sight.”

“No, no it’s fine.” Daniel waved his hands a bit to stop him, “You’re tired, and I don’t expect you to have to keep an eye on him every second of every day. That would be ridiculous. None of it was your fault. It was all Max and…” Daniel pressed his palms together, fingers splayed out as he thought of how to word things. Stretching the tension out in his neck by leaning it to the right, “Even though it was… rather unexpected. He made his negative emotions clear to me, and now we can begin to address them.” Daniel’s smile waivered slightly, “It’s a healing process, I suppose.”

David still wasn’t satisfied. “I will admit Max is in a rough spot right now, and might need some time to adjust to living with us; but that doesn’t mean he should be allowed to do things like this. I spoke to Max about what he did, and made it clear that it was an unacceptable behavior. We worked out an acceptable punishment, and will make sure he apologizes properly.” David picked up his second mug of coffee and took a drink.

“Now. I can’t guarantee that he won’t act out again, but I think if we stay on top of things- and show Max that there are other ways to vent his frustrations, he’ll come around.”

“Okay. That… sounds like an excellent plan.” Daniel agreed after a bit. Though he still looked nervous about the whole ordeal. He looked between the workshop door where Max was and the table, slapping his hands on the sides of his legs awkwardly, “Well… I guess I should get started on work then?” he didn’t seem too eager to walk into the same room as Max just yet.

“We have half an hour still.” David gave him an out, indicating to the kitchen, “Why don’t you eat something?”

Daniel accepted the offer and walked into the kitchen. David turned back to his food, and then to Ren. He asked for some details of the bar fight, and listened as Ren man recounted the destruction that was definitely going to end up in the local newspapers by tomorrow, and probably get a certain group of teenagers banned from every local bar in the area. Daniel joined them with a bowl of yogurt and some fruit, having an aversion to eggs since they were a ‘negative’ food. He wasn’t so happy to hear about the fight.

“This is the second time she’s done something like this in a month, right? Such aggression is definitely stemming from negative energies. Not healthy for someone of her age.” Daniel concluded after asking Ren a few questions, “She should meditate on her life style and make acts to reduce negative sources in her environment. If she would be interested, she’s welcome to come by anytime for some counseling, or just to speak.”

“I’ll… let her know you extended the offer, but I don’t think Yang really sees her confidence as stemming from negativity.” Ren admitted with a slight grimace. A common facial expression people wore when Daniel started getting a little preachy. He, like most people, _get_ some of the particulars of Daniel’s world view.

“It’s not about her being confident in her abilities to fight. It’s that she feels the need to start full on brawls to prove that she _can_.” Daniel explained with an imploring expression. Then shook his head. “Very self-destructive behavior. Negativity works in cycles, and the more distress she causes the more that will come back to her in turn.”

“Like Karma?” David was not most people. From an outside prospective he usually found Daniel explaining particulars of his religion mildly interesting. He listened resting his chin in one hand, his finished plate pushed to one side and nursing his coffee.

Daniel looked up at the ceiling, then down to David with a frown. “Sorry what’s Karma again?”

“Karma?” David sat up a bit in genuine surprise, and reached out to explain the concept. “Oh wow. Okay I don’t know how you haven’t heard of this one yet. It’s like the basics of the basics. Have you ever heard the phrase ‘what goes around comes around?’”

“Yes.” Daniel perked up, genuinely happy that he had some semblance of understanding. Sometimes you could tell Daniel was totally in the dark when it came to things. Since he’d grown up with such a narrow view of the world. It was in those moments that you could catch brief glimpses of uncertainty in the man. Starting with a partial knowledge of something must have been a nice change for him.

“It’s essentially cause and effect. That’s Karma? Wait are you sure that’s not uhm… uh.” Daniel snapped his fingers searching for a word, somehow ending up on the name for a sausage of all things. “Boudin…?”

“Buddhism.” Ren supplied, looking almost pained at the butchering of the religion’s name.

“Yes!” Daniel pointed to Rin as if it were some kind of victory.

“Karma is a concept of Buddhism.” David explained, then frowned uncertain, “I think. Hold on let me check.” he pulled out his own phone to bring up google. He paused on his home screen.

“Oh, shoot. It’s almost time to open. Ren have you set up anything in mom’s shop yet?”

“Already?” Ren asked, pushing up from the table. He made to collect his plate, but David stopped him. “I’ll clean up your stuff. You go open the mom’s shop. We’ll come by and help if we have time.”

Ren thanked them and then left. David tossed his empty water bottle into the recycling bin and helped Daniel with the dishes. The blonde still carrying on the conversation topic. As fascinated as always with social ideologies.

“It’s funny how many religious concepts carry over into one another.” Daniel said as he put the plates into the sink and turned on the water. “I mean Boudinism-” “ _Buddhism_.” “Sorry, Buddhism. It was invented out of this country right? But here we are. Discussing two completely different religions that developed separately but have the same ideals. The Truth of the world shows in mysterious ways, right?”

Daniel turned and raised a hand to David as if asking him to hand him support for the idea. David gave him a skeptical look. Reaching past his double for the still warm coffee pot beside the stove. Daniel didn’t seem to notice and went back to rinsing off the plates.

“No matter how people try and disillusion themselves, the same concepts bleed through. Even when we try to ignore it, the true nature of things drives us to action. Isn’t that fascinating?”

“Sure. That’s one way to see things.” Or maybe whichever crazy person had invented Daniel’s religion had taken a page from someone else’s book. David thought, but didn’t voice this out loud, pouring out his third cup of coffee. He didn’t have the energy for a spirited religious debate right now.

Daniel turned to say something more, but stopped with a slight frown. Focusing on the mug David was pouring creamer into. “David, that much coffee can’t be good for you.” Daniel advised.

“I don’t think little liquid ‘negativity’ will kill me.” David half-rolled his eyes, setting the creamer back into the fridge door. “I’ve gone four days without sleep. I need something to keep me going.”

“I was more worried about the caffeine giving you a heart attack. Or diabetes with how much sugar you put into it.” Daniel admitted, watching as David procured said sugar packets from the box in the cabinet. “… Drinking it black is so much better for you. It tastes better too.”

David looked Daniel directly in the eyes and poured two sugar packets into his coffee. He held the stare until the blonde looked away. David knew he was being a bit of a jerk but he was kind of sick of people trying to convert him to strait coffee. Seriously Max was bad enough, now Daniel? At this rate Gwen would be giving up her pumpkin spice.

Daniel wasn’t one to stay down for long thought. Soon he was brightening back up with an idea, “Hey, maybe you should try meditating before you sleep? It helps shed off the negativity you’ve been exposed to during the day, and keeps you from feeling anxious or stressed. I can walk you through the basics if you would like me to.”

“Thanks for the suggestion Daniel, but meditating has never really help before. I’ve tried.” David confessed, recalling what a waste of time that whole mess had been. David finished stirring his coffee and added the spoon to the dish washer. “I’ll just stick with my medication.”

Daniel hummed, clearly wanting to say something about medication. Probably how relying on it wasn’t good for him or something. The blonde seemed to catch on that David wasn’t in the mood though, remaining quiet. David finished perfecting his drink and took a drink, taking in energy to last throughout the day.

When he opened his eyes Daniel was waiting silently beside him, thinking to himself.

David held his mug just below his jaw, looking off to the side before speaking.

“Hey, Daniel?” David asked, Daniel looked up, his eyebrows rising. David imagined he would have blinked if the man didn’t have some unspoken aversion to it. “Hmm?” “Are you… doing okay? You know… after yesterday, and then today? I just wanted to make sure.”

“Oh. I’m doing great!” Daniel was clearly lying. His fake smile fadded. “I’m sorry about what happened last night.”

“I’ve never seen you just bail like that before.” David voiced his concerned, “I was worried.”

“Last night… Max hit a pretty hard spot for me.” Daniel confessed, but managed a more genuine smile, “But I’ll live.”

“… I should warn you that Max likes to do that. He picks at them like scabs.”

“If he does then why’d you adopt him? Someone with so many ghosts following them. I imagine it’s the last thing you would want.”

“I didn’t plan on adopting Max.” David admitted, turning the warm mug of coffee in his hands, “He needed someone to be there for him; and I volunteered to be that someone. I mean, no one else was going to step forward. I don’t even want to think of where he would be right now if I hadn’t.”

Daniel seemed contemplative. “Kind of how you didn’t just want to leave me in jail?”

“Yeah, I guess you could put it that way.” David hummed, drinking his coffee. He hadn’t thought of it that way before. His double might be onto something there.

“We should probably go out front. Red’s probably waiting for us.” Daniel sighed, looking towards the door anxiously. Clearly not wanting to confront the inevitable, but ready to do so anyway. David agreed, and the two of them made their way out into the workshop, Dad greeting them with a grunt and Max giving Daniel a particularly dissatisfied glare.

Daniel avoided Max’s negativity and stayed out of the kid’s way. Sweeping up the mess David had made before popping over next door to help Ren catch up with opening the other store. Mom and Dad themselves went to go participate in the opening ceremony happening at the front gates. David quickly set up the till, and relocated Max out front.

“Listen Max, the fair has rules we have to abide by.” David explained gently.

“A stupid costume wasn’t part of the punishment, David.” Max all but growled putting on the simple costume David had given him. It was required that all of the shops ‘stay in character’ for the fair. Something the staff took more seriously than most would think. Mostly because workers could actually get penalized for not following the rules. If Max was going to be behind the counter he needed to be in a costume of some kind- and he couldn’t stay in the back room because David wouldn’t be able to keep an eye on him.

This was clearly something the boy did not want to do- and did purely for the fact that David let him put down the boards for a while and rest his arms while he changed. Judging by how Max was rubbing his arms and hissing as he pulled on David’s old leather vest on, his shoulders had been starting to ache. Max wore the vest over a simple white shirt and wore a themed hat they had laying around. It wasn’t much, but it was enough.

“Everyone working a shop, or part of it, has to wear a costume.” David explained, holding the three boards for Max as he changed. “I’m not planning on sign shaming you or anything. You just need to fit in enough that we won’t get in trouble. Though… that’s not a bad idea. Gwen would probably pay me for pictures.”

“I will murder you if you do.” Max threatened, adjusting the borrowed brown leather vest David had given him. He sighed, deflating, “I want my hoodie.”

“It’s in the dryer still. You can have it back at lunch.” David promised. Guiding him to where he could stand behind the counter where he wouldn’t be in the way.

Daniel came back in from Mom’s fortune telling shop, unlocking the doors and opening them wide for customers to come in from. Max glared at him with a palatable hate. David stepped into his line of sight.

“Max. You put yourself into this situation.” David said sternly. “Not Daniel. You’re still going to have to apologize to him as well. So think about what to say while you’re doing this.”

“Che, whatever.” Max took the boards and arranged them so he could hold them all at once, “How much longer am I going to have to do this anyway?”

“We’ll see.” David hummed, correcting Max’s collar with a gentle hand, “but I think we can come up with a deal. I know how hard this can be. Let’s say hmm… two hours.”

“Two _hours_?!” Max baulked, “it hasn’t even been one yet!”

“Two hours.” David held up his fingers, “if you can go that long without teasing or insulting the customers. I’ll take a board off.”

Max looked from the three boards in his hand, to the open doors to David, “Wait, that means I’m going to be doing this for _six_ hours? At _least_?”

“You’re going to stand until you’ve realized that there are going to be consequences for acting out, Max.” David gave Max his most ‘dad’ tone he could muster. “All day if you have too. Remember, you choose this. You could have just gone up stairs and cleaned up your mess.”

Max pouted grumpily, but when David asked him if he wanted to add on another board the kid quickly held up the three boards over his head. David could feel Daniel watching the interaction. David couldn’t see his initial expression since his back was turned, but he got the feeling that the blonde had mixed feeling about the punishment. Especially since he quickly turned away when David looked back towards where he was.

Soon the first few customers came in to browse, and shortly Dad returned from escorting Mom back to her shop. Once things started they didn’t stop. With it being the last day of the season customers were coming in constantly. Taking pictures out front on the wooden throne chair, or of the wooden bear inside. David basically always had someone at the register or counter. Asking questions or buying wooden carvings. Daniel stayed out side mostly, calling customers in or mitigating the line for taking pictures on the Hunter’s throne. David was certain he was doing this to avoid Max, but it didn’t hinder them too much. Dad’s shop was designed to be run by two people, three was kind of over kill even with how busy it was.

David of course made sure to keep an eye on Max despite all the business. Looking over at him between each sale to make sure he was not only there, but doing what he was supposed to. The boy held out longer than David thought he would. Around the forty minute mark Max was looking about ready to drop for the first time. His arms were shaking and he was sweating fairly badly. David was surprised to see him last an almost other twenty until the inevitable happened.

The wooded planks clattered to the ground behind him, making several people in the store look up in surprise, most of them noticing Max for the first time. Max himself was hunched over slightly, resting his hands on his knees like he was catching his breath. David excused himself from the counter and walked over to the boy, concerned.

“Max?”

Max sniffed and wiped off his upper lip, not saying a word but glaring up at him. The heat almost palatable in his eyes. Though only for a second as he glanced down at his shoes almost immediately.

David in that moment felt a great sense of Deja vu. Not from doing this before with a child- he had no sense of jurisdiction holding a physical punishment to his campers- but from his own past. David remembered exactly how many times he had been where Max was now. Arms trembling and feet starting to ache. Angry that he had been too weak to keep the boards up for longer. As if doing so would prove some kind of point. Disappointed in himself and embarrassed to. About not being enough to meet that standard he had set for himself.

A standard that didn’t matter in the long run because that wasn’t what he was doing holding the boards for. They weren’t Standing to prove a point. They needed to _understand_ a point. Something that had taken David years of doing this to realize. Something that would probably take Max a while to understand too.

David closed his eyes, and then opened them. Picking up the boards and then pulling a new one from a stack he had leaned against the wall earlier. He held out all four to Max. Who took a few seconds to steady himself, and when he was ready, picked up the boards again. Avoiding looking at David entirely. Either to angry or ashamed, he wasn’t quite sure. Probably both.

“He’s doing strength training,” Red rumbled. Having taken over at the register temporarily, “You need a lot of strength to make something right.”

Was that an allusion to him raising Max? David narrowed his eyes at his father’s back and was sorely tempted to tell the man to shove off. He knew however that if he did though he’d just end up holding logs beside Max though. Probably, or oiling everything in the gun safe. So he let it slide despite the old bitterness stirring in his stomach.

David made sure Max wasn’t going to fall over before he returned to his job. Max lasted another hour before he dropped one of the four boards to the ground. Only one, it slip off the top as he wobbled trying to adjust his grip and slipped off. Cursing under his breath, Max avoided looking at David’s face when he walked over. Neck clearly turning a bit red in frustration.

“I-it just fell off, slipped out-”

“It happens.” David assured the boy, who was certainly angry at himself. David picked up the dropped board and held it in both hands. Max looked over to the stack of waiting cuts beside him, and then back to David. Looking apprehensive. David’s heart tore at the expression, but he stayed firm with a gentle smile on his face.

“Two hours without insulting someone Max. I think that’s a new record. Oh, but there is that day Jeremy came to Camp. That was what, almost eleven hours? A record for sure.” David thought out loud, smiling at the memory. The Quarter Master and David had placed bets on who would crack first, Gwen or Max. Surprisingly it had been neither and they had to take measures into their own hands to get rid of the mess Campbell had dumped on them without prior warning.

“So I won’t be adding on a board right now. As promised.” He set the dropped fourth plank onto the stack in Max’s hands, and picked the three still in Max’s grasp out of his arms.

“Want to take a quick break and stretch out your arms?”

“Oh god please.” Max all but dropped to the ground on his back. Stretching out his arms and rubbing at his shoulders. “Ugh, muscles I didn’t even know I had hurt. Why do my legs hurt as well though? And my back?”

David laughed. “You sound like an old man.” “Hey, fuck you.” “Language, Max.” David warned, but there was no threat to his voice. Coffee could only get someone so far, and David was burning through it fairly quickly.

When the boy was ready for the boards again David handed all four back, and waited for the next hour to come around. Only Max didn’t end up dropping the boards, surprisingly. Not at the next hour, or the next half-hour. He stubbornly lasted all the way until David’s lunch break came around at 12. Though it clearly cost him. Max was sweating horribly and wasn’t exactly keeping the boards up straight. Not something David was going to grill him for, the boy looked miserable enough as it was.

He’d lasted long enough to put down another board. Leaving him with three. David couldn’t help but smile proudly, as he stepped away so Daniel could watch the register. “Lunch time. You can put the boards down until it’s over.”

Max didn’t even thank his god, dropping the boards down onto the ground and stepping over them. David hadn’t been expecting a hug, but he wasn’t going to refuse one. Patting Max’s back as the kid almost knocked his legs out from under him.

“I should have just cleaned up the mess up stairs.” Max bemoaned, practically speaking into David’s knee.

David really shouldn’t have laughed. But the chuckle started in his shoulders, reached his stomach and rose back out through his mouth.

“It’s not funny.” Max threw back his head and dragged out his name, leaning all of his weight onto David’s shins. He might have actually been trying to pull a leg out from under him, but was unsuccessful. “ _Da_ - _vid_ I’m serious.”

“I know you are.” David toned down the laughter. “Sorry. I couldn’t help it.” “You’re an asshole.” “I’m an asshole that’s going to make your lunch. Be nice.” “Never.” Max refused, but did let go of his legs. Following him into the house.

Everyone had to take lunch in a rotation, but they got an hour each. Since around this time of the day most of the fair visitors were in the food quarter watching The Pirate shows or paying lots of money for food. It was just David and Max in the house as he fixed them up some sandwiches and sliced apples. A side which eventually got traded out for potato chips thanks to much protest on Max’s part. David knew he shouldn’t have given in, but Max made a convincing argument. Laying his face flat down on the table and drawing out a loud moan for three whole minutes while David tried not to laugh.

“Here’s your food, grumpy pants.” David said humorously, putting the plate down in front of the kid, “and your Jacket, as promised.” He dropped the jacket he had fetched from the laundry room on top of Max’s head.

“ _Yes_.” Max cheered, throwing off the vest costume and pulling on the beaten up hoodie.

David sat down at the table, watching him put on the overly worn cloth, “You really like that thing, huh?”

“Well it is my _favorite_ hoodie.” Max said once he had the article on, “My Gran gave it to me.”

“Gran?” David parroted curiously. Never having heard of Max mention any one named such before.

“My grandmother.” Max explained, playing with the hem of his jacket sleeve. “She lives in India.”

“Oh,” David frowned. That was quite a trip. Did Max visit her often? David knew that he had no idea what Max’s family was like. Outside of the brief meeting with his father, and some unsavory assumptions on what his mother was like. He contemplated this, and realized it was something he should probably rectify. “What’s she like? Your Gran?”

“She’s really nice. I’ve only met her once though. The first time Dad had a business trip back home and Mom was already on one- and the baby sitter flaked so I got to go along. I stayed with her for almost a year… until Dad came back and picked me up.” Max said the last bit hesitantly, deflating a bit. He picked at some lint on his hoodie. “He kind of… forgot to come pick me when he left the first time.”

David wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that, he turned the tea he had made for himself contemplatively.

“How long ago was that?” “Back when I was six.” “And the jacket still fits you?” David asked skeptically.

“Hey asshole,” Max slammed a fist down onto the table and pointed at him with the other. Not in pure anger, David got the impression it was more to make a point than anything else. “Listen I’m short. You don’t need to rub it in- and just for the record I grew into this thing. It was like, twice the size of me when I first got it.”

“That’s… really sentimental of you.” David couldn’t help but think that was kind of adorable. Max crossed his arms, pulling the jacket closer around himself. Sitting sat back down in his chair with a huff. Definitely adorable.

“Yeah well, you’ve got that yellow scarf of yours so don’t ever tell me to throw this thing away.”

“Oh, yeah of course.” David kept his voice level, thumbing the edge of the old camp shirt on his neck. “I understand completely.”

“So… what is the story behind the shitty yellow thing anyway?” Max asked indicating to David’s neck with a piece of his sandwich.

“Oh… it’s my old Camp Campbell shirts.” David said calmly and with a smile. Perfectly hiding his shaking hands by clasping them around his tea mug. “Lame, I know. But it means a lot to me.”

Mr. Campbell had given it to him after all. Since he’d nearly died and all. The cloth doubled as both a safety blanket, and a reminder on how much he owed the man. David found himself drifting off, starring down at his plate. Max kicking the table leg brought him back to reality though.

“We’ve both sentimental then, or senile. There’s probably not much of a difference.” Max grumbled, contemplatively. Leaning back in the chair with a sandwich in his hands. He scrunched up his face, “What do you think Daniel keeps? Like I kind of don’t want to know… but that just makes me wonder.”

“Let’s try not to think about it.” David offered as a half-joke. He knew the answer but didn’t exactly want to explain it to Max.

Before Daniel had started living here with his parents the guy hadn’t had much of anything. Nothing but the clothes on his back, his violin case, and what constituted a bible to him. Being constantly on the run, or run out of places, had that kind of effect on people. Judging by last night, the blonde wasn’t a stranger to just up and leaving with what he had on him either. David wondered if there was anything Daniel had ever left behind that he missed.

David finished his lunch up fairly quickly. Mostly because Max inhaled his two sandwiches and then stole one of David’s. For being so small Max actually ate a lot when given decent food. Probably meaning he was going to be hitting a growth period soon. Max may be short now, but puberty would probably turn him into a string pole. It certainly did for most of the teens that came through the camp. David made a mental note to buy clothes would give the boy some room to grow when they went shopping.

For as fast as Max initially ate, he seemed reluctant to finish, eating his bag of potato chips excruciatingly slow as he watched TV. Probably not wanting to go back to Standing so soon. David contemplated this, and what Max had said when he had dropped the boards earlier.

“I think it’s time we got back out front.” David announced casually, and Max tensed, his hand in the bag of BBQ flavored chips he had also stolen from David.

“I’m not done eating yet.” Max mumbled quietly at his bag of chips. Like he wanted to argue with going back to Standing, but didn’t want to at the same time. Possibly fearing making the punishment worse? Either way it was a delaying tactic, and a weak one at that.

“I can see that, and we do have some time still for our lunch break.” David looked up to the clock on one wall. “But if you go clean the death trap upstairs now, and make your apology to Daniel afterwards. I think you could probably make the next jousting tournament.”

Max was definitely staring at him. David kept his expression neutral as he turned to face him and took a sip of his tea. “But if you’re still hungry and want to finish up we can do it later, maybe around dinner?”

Max slammed down the bag of chips onto the table and jumped off the chair, seizing the out David was giving him.

“No! No! I can do it now! Like, yeah.” Max hesitated as he turned away from the table, turned back, and pulling the now half-crushed chips off the table, shoving them in his jacket pocket, “I’m, uh, just going to take these with me.”

David silently chuckled as Max jumped off his chair and all but sprinted upstairs. For all the posing and bluster Max put on he was still a kid at his core. David waited a few moments, then went upstairs to watch, and eventually help Max clean up his death trap. The two of them carrying everything downstairs and putting things where they belonged.

David knew he might be letting Max off a little too easy here, but he had felt the honestly in Max’s voice when he dropped the boards earlier. So he knew that Max had learned the point David wanted to get across: That there would be consequences for his actions if he acted out, and David would stick to them. It was as good of a start as any. They could work out the particulars of what was and wasn’t allowed later.

It probably wasn’t a good idea to encase Max with a bunch of rules immediately after all. Since Max liked to make a point of breaking them when he could. That may actually be a challenge now that he thought about it. How to lay out rules without making it seem like he was caging the boy? Hmmm. David watched Max put things away in the work shop while he considered this dilemma, no definite answer coming to mind.

Daniel came in from the front, doing a quick double take when he noticed Max. But seemed to consider things safe since Max was preoccupied and on the other side of the room. “Hey David, some of my followers wanted me to meet up with them for lunch. When are you getting back on?

“I’ll be back just as soon as we finish up here.” David supplied.

Max was not happy with that, turning around immediately. “What? I thought you were going to come see the jousting tournament with me!” Max shoved the last bit of his death trap into a cubbie and ran over, clutching at the waist of David’s shirt. Max shot a quick glare at Daniel, and moved closer. Not quite hiding behind David’s leg, but clearly showing who he favored more.

Oh, David hadn’t ment things like that. He’d intended for Max to go by himself… not that he wouldn’t want to, but those shows were a bit long and he had already taken an hour off for lunch… how to remedy this.

“Oh, okay.” Daniel spoke up, surprising David. The blond grinned at David, coming to his rescue. “That’s not problem. Red can go on break now, and I can watch the shop and go when you guys come back.”

“Are you sure?” David asked Daniel tentatively. That would leave the blonde alone in the store, and sure he could handle it, but it wouldn’t be fun.

The blonde waved a hand as if it weren’t a big deal. “Certainly. Go spend some positive time with Max. It’ll balance out the negativity of this morning.”

“Alright then… but Max you have to apologize to Daniel first.” David wasn’t going to budge on that at least. He stepped away from the boy and turned to face him to strengthen this point.

“Just because you’re unhappy with someone doesn’t mean you should take it out on them. Especially in ways that they could possibly be hurt. You’re apologizing for acting out of turn, understand?”

Max fixed him with an unhappy look, and transferred it to Daniel. He looked like he wanted to argue for a few seconds, but after a while spoke with a forcedly polite tone. “I’m sorry.”

David raised an eyebrow, wanting a bit more than that but, Max was focused on Daniel, who smiled. “It’s okay Max. I just hope that next time you will talk to me about any negativity building up between us before you feel the need to act on it.”

“… yeah. Sure. Whatever that all means.” Max’s grabbed David’s sleeve, and pulled him towards the door. Daniel stepped out of the way and let them go back out to the front. David explained in passing to his dad what they were going to go do. Max insistently dragged him out of the shop by the sleeve of his shirt the entire time.

“Daniel’s so weird.” Max said, slowing down once David was out of the store and not resisting being pulled along. “What does any of that negative and positive stuff even mean?”

“He’s just asking you to talk to him, rather than threaten him with an ax.” David translated happily. The two of them wove through the crowds towards the arena. It was really crowded at the fair today. David waved at one of the workers he knew with a smile as they walked.

“I tried talking about it last night!” Max exclaimed frustratingly, “But I don’t know if you remember or not but he kind of bailed on us.”

“Well, next time we’ll make sure he doesn’t.” David decided, but put a finger to his lips, “Though I think the main reason he did bail was because you told him specifically to get lost. I think Daniel’s a bit of a literal thinker, maybe we should keep that in mind.”

“Maybe he should work on not killing people for a pass time.” Max grumbled unhappily, but his mood lightened as they approached the arena.

They came up to the stadium, to find it absolutely packed. The term stadium was loosely applied, since it was more of an artificial hill, with a sand pit for a stage at the center of it all. It didn’t even have benches, people sat on blankets or the manicured grass. The Colorado fair didn’t have the most expansive set up, though with the crowds getting bigger year after year David wouldn’t be surprised if there were upgrades in the works. Most of everyone was already seated to watch the show, and the so called stands were packed. The only places left to sit were besides families with really annoying kids, or young couples that were getting a bit to PG. Max didn’t exactly look thrilled to sit beside any of those people for the next thirty minutes- so it was a good thing David had come along. With his connections they could do better than the nose bleeds.

David grinned and took the lead from Max, pulling him down towards the stage and directly up to the rope line separating the seating area from the stage

“Pyrrah! My lost kindred soul.” “David!” The red head opened her arms with a laugh, and she leaned over to rope to hug him. “It’s good to see you. Though I don’t think we can be kindred _souls._ What with our condition.”

“What condition?” Max asked, looking between them.

Pyrrah blinked at Max before double backing to David a surprised look on her face. A look which split into a giant smile that she tried to hide but failed miserably at. Like she had just confirmed some kind of rumor that she had been hoping was true. Which he supposed she had, David hadn’t exactly gone around introducing Max to everyone he knew at the fair. Because A: that would take hours, and B: Max would absolutely hate it.

Max certainly had made his impression with Ruby’s gang last night though, David didn’t doubt they had told more than a few people about the small camper he had brought home. He’d give it another day before people were blowing up his face book messenger for information. Asking about where Max had come from and if or if not he had really gotten some girl laid up ten years ago. David made a mental note to make some kind of announcement post about the adoption, he didn’t want any weird rumors to gain ground.

That wasn’t the matter on hand, however. They were here to have fun. Something David could use as a change of pace. He took Pyrrah’s joke and ran with it. “Really? Wow A for lack of discrimination Max.” Max just looked more confused, so David continued, “We’re both red heads.”

“Yeah, so?”

“To a lot of people that means we don’t have souls.” Pyrrah finished up the explanation, amused.

“Or that we’re witches,” David tagged on, Pyrrah bounced back. “Yet people still think you’re a gypsy for some reason?” “Mom think’s it’s the eye patch.” “The fact that you guys move around so much must not help either.” “Everyone who works at the fair moves around a lot.” David pointed out, and then half shrugged. “Well, anyone who keeps shops in different locations.”

Max looked between the two of them as they traded banter, finally speaking up after a bit. “So… are you like, friends with that group of friends that asked David to go drinking last night?”

“We’re all friends.” Pyrrah smiled, but looked up and away from David. Half-rolling her eyes and keeping her voice high and airy. “Though _some_ people like to think they’re to mature to hang out with us.”

“Hey,” David held up his hands in defense, “I had nothing to do with the bar fight. Yang started that.”

“If you were there we wouldn’t have been a fight. You’re good at stopping them.” “You think I’m capable of keeping the Yang Xiao Long from starting a fight? You flatter me.”

Pyrrah considered this. “Okay, maybe you couldn’t have stopped it. But we still could have really used you there.”

“Next time, I promise.” David conceded, Pyrrah nodded though they both knew she wouldn’t hold it against him. David let a mischievous grin split his face, “But you’re paying in advance.” He said, and pushed down the rope dividing the stands from the field down with his body weight.

“You guys want to sit up here with me?” Pyrrah asked with a smile.

“Heck yeah, best seats in the house.” David laughed, and jumped the rope fence before she could say no.

“Wait, wait we’re going to sit on the field? With the horses?” Max asked, seemingly having zoned out for a second but snapped back into focus.

“Well yeah, that’s what using friends for favors is for.” David half-shrugged as he held the rope down for Max to jump over.

“David, extorting favors from people is not something you want to be teaching a child.” Pyrrah reprimanded him lightly.

“Sorry that’s what _connections_ are for.” David corrected himself, turning to look over his shoulder at Pyrrah pointedly. “But connections can be friends too- and I prefer to think of them as such.”

“ _David_.” Pyrrah scowled, but he could tell by her eyes that she was amused.

Man she was so pretty. Absolutely gorgeous in her brass and maroon outfit too. If she didn’t have such a big crush on Jaune… David sighed mentally and mourned the bad luck that seemed to follow him lately when it came to romance.

“Don’t worry I’m already like, the most morally corrupt kid he could get his hands on.” Max backed him up, but he had a grin on his face. Definitely eager to be getting in the ring where he could arguably cause more chaos if he wanted to.

Oh. This may not have been a good idea.

“Max-” “No.” The kid spoke sharply, having read his expression. He pointed a finger at him sharply, as he hoped over the rope. “I have ‘behaved’ _all_ morning. I make no promises that I’m not going to miss this opportunity.”

David sighed. “Just… don’t aim any of fireworks at Jaune, with his luck he will actually break something. And If Pyrrah drop kicks you out of the stadium it’s not my fault. I’m warning you now.”

Max seemed to take this as a joke. David, however, had no doubt that the other red head would have no trouble doing such a thing. Pyrrah noted the exchange, raised an eyebrow at him basically giving her permission to do such a thing, but said nothing in the long run.

Things thankfully didn’t turn south quickly, not at first though.

The Jousting show, per the usual, started out with the maidens of each night pumping up the crowd. Dividing it into four sections and getting everyone into a cheering match. Trying to out compete the others in a friendly competition. Max and David joined along, helping Pyrrah with her section of the crowd. Pyrrah played Max and David’s presence off as ‘getting help from the audience’ so their presence was written off as something planned. To David’s surprise Max actually seemed to get really into it, standing up with Pyrrah on her wooden box and goading the audience for Huzza’s. He really seemed to like the attention, or getting a large group of people to do what he wanted. It might have been both.

Once the crowd was hyped, the knights came out on their horses, circling the arena and then going off to their sections to ‘greet’ their maiden. Jaune was in his full armor, brass with maroon just like Pyrrah. He wasn’t all that steady on his white horse, but the horse he worked with was steady and trained incredibly well for this job. Jaune gave her a smile and said hello to David, adjusting his helmet.

“What’s up David?”

“Jaune that’s not how knights are supposed to speak.” Pyrrah reminded him quietly while the announcer went about explaining the first challenge.

“Oh, right.” Jaune cleared his throat, and sat up a bit. “Good day my Lord Little Red. What brings you here today?”

“Max likes horses.” David said, keeping one hand to keep Max back from doing anything rash, though he didn’t think it would be much of a problem. Max was too busy starring in awe at the horse Jaune was on. David didn’t blame him, the horse Jaune was on was easily three times bigger than the ponies they used for the horseback riding camp. Big and intimidating, everything that would fascinate a ten year old boy. David added a mental note to one day take Max horse-back riding around some of the Sleepy Peak trails. He didn’t own a horse himself, but he knew several people who did.

“Ah, I see.” Jaune said with a smile, and accepted his long pole from Pyrrah, “Well then, my young lord. Watch, and see how a true… master of horsemanship handles these courses.”

“Uh, dude, you’re no master.” Max said dryly, “You fell off like, three times yesterday?”

Jaune sputtered, face turning red. Pyrrah hid a smile behind a hand. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I think we both know what we’re talking about.” Max stared the man down pointedly.

“Max, be nice.” David ribbed him pointedly, and nodded at Jaune. “You’ll do fine Jaune. Just focus.”

“He’s right,” Pyrrah spoke encouragingly, adjusting the blanket on the horse a bit. She had grown up around horses, and was basically kind of Jaune’s unofficial coach. She picked up the long, stripped pole that Jaune would be using throughout the show. “Focus, and remember. Steady breaths. Steady hands.”

Jaune took a breath, his complexion becoming more under control. Taking the jousting rod. “Right.”

The announcer finished the opening act, and each of the knights collected their long jousting poles, and rode out towards the center of the ring to ‘warm up’ before the actual fights.

The first contest was ring collecting. Gallop the horse past several poles and try to take the rings off of said poles as they passed. The announcer didn’t miss the opportunity to make some innuendos as the stage was reset after each pass. Pyrrah drummed up some excitement for Jaune when his turn came up, with David and Max helping her. Encouraging the audience to clap in a rhythm. Jaune managed to get three out of the five rings, which wasn’t too bad seeing as the knight before him only got two.

The second round was striking a board target which swung around dramatically if it was hit correctly. Each knight got two passes at the training board, with the announcer making some more innuendos about men finding it hard to hit sweet spots with long polls when Jaune whiffed both of them. Much to the disappointment of their section of the crowd.

The third round was similar to the second, but instead of hitting a target the knights took spear props and had to aim them into a hay bail while running past them at full speed. Jaune was much better at this than the other challenges. Hitting the center mass with all three of his spears on each run. Better than any of the other contestants.

Finally came the actual jousting. Max didn’t even have any smart remarks to make as Jaune circled around to collect his shield and pole. The man clearly was tense and so was each of the other riders. David didn’t blame them.

The actual fights were the most dangerous parts of the job for these guys. Jaune and Pyrrah themselves were standing in for a team, who at the start of the season had been knocked off their horse and received a concussion. Sure some of the runs were hashed out beforehand, who would aim and (hopefully) hit the other’s shield, or who would whiff and (hopefully) not accidently hit the other in the shoulder or head. You could never account for who would be running against who though. Since part of the ‘tournament’ was that the final fights would be decided on where people scored on the previous rounds. It gave the show a less scripted feel, which was nice. But there were four knights total though, leading to a combination of 24 possible matchup for the show. It was hard to plan for everything, and not everything would always go to plan.

Jaune got paired with a knight named Cardine; who was every bit the definition of a prick, and good at rallying up hype in a show. Others hated being paired against him because of this. He always insisted being on the winning edge, and would often go off script. Which was dangerous.

The second the announcement was made, Pyrrah was reminding Jaune about steady breathing, and how to hold the shield so his body would take a blow, not his shoulder. Meanwhile Cardine was on the other side of the arena asking for the crowd to cheer louder by comically putting a hand to his helmet and leaning into the screams.

Each of the knights got four passes at one another, or until someone was dehorsed. Max mumbled something about things being so much more intense when he was on the field. Looking equal parts nervous for Jaune and exited for the match in general as David explained all of this too him.

David rallied up the crowd to start clapping again, Pyrrah and him getting not just their section, but a good portion of everyone clapping in time, building up to the first charge. Clap. Clap. Clap. Jaune and Cardine both moved their horses into position. More clapping, the two lined, up, the announcer held up his flag, and then let it drop. The horses took off on their cues. Both running steadily and strait, following the rope lines. Both knights had some time to get momentum going before they had to bring down their jousting poles. The first pass, Cardin was ment to aim at Jaune’s shield and Jaune was supposed to whiff. The steady beat of clapping kept up with the horse’s pace, and Jaune kept his shield firm and steady. Wood splintered into a million pieces, and the crowd went wild as the two of them passed each other up. Neither knocked down.

Pyrrah let out a breath she was holding, placing a hand over her heart. David let out a long whistle while he applauded with the crowd. Max watched intently with his hands in his pockets.

The next pass started up, Cardine getting a new pole from his maiden. Pyrrah started up the clapping pattern again, and the crowd did so enthusiastically. Clap. Clap. Clap. With a slow build up to the run. This time the clapping stopped in anticipation as the horses began to run. Both knights were supposed to whiff each other on this round, to keep things going, but Cardine aimed for a knock out once again. Jaune brought his shield up in time, but it glanced off. Scrapping along the side of his arm and lower torso. _Oooohs_ and some cheers went up from the crowd, Cardine’s team getting more of the positive sounds than those sitting behind them. Pyrrah looked like she wanted to run over and check that Jaune was okay, but stayed put. The blonde gave the okay signal meaning his arm probably wasn’t broken. Shaking out said appendage as he circled around for the next charge.

This was the pass was the one that Cardine always got in trouble with. Jaune was supposed to strike this time, so things wouldn’t seem so one-sided. Cardine didn’t like letting anyone getting a pass on him, however, and often just made the other knights defend against him constantly. It was like running against a stubborn battering ram. Never mind that Cardine liked to play it off as having more skill than the other riders. Never mind that what he was doing involved less skill than any of the other challenges he always failed to do well in.

The crowd this time started up the clapping, not needing David or Pyrrah to prompt them again. David watched Cardine get a few more cheers from the crowd before lining up against Jaune. A bad feeling stirring in the back of David’s mind. This wasn’t going to go well. He could feel it coming at him, like a wall of water after diving off a cliff. David stepped forward to warn Jaune to shield instead of stick to the script, but stopped short. Whirring around to look at the empty crate beside hime.

Max. Where was Max?

David’s head jerked to the right, just as the first firework went off. Max had circled around the stage’s edge over to where the other knights had been waiting for their turn to take to the ring. Going unnoticed due to the competition, just long enough to get behind the other horses and set off some fire crackers.

Horses were very easily startled creatures, and they were pack animals. Once one started panicking they all did. One of the two knights was immediately thrown off their animal, falling to the ground with the clanking of armor. The other held on hopelessly, trying to get a handle but not getting very far, he was bucked off like a cowboy at a rodeo, and the free horses bolted strait between Jaune’s and Cardine’s, going straight up to the fence in front of the stands before turning and following the edge of the stadium in a stampede.

Cardine was equally thrown from his horse when it reared back, startled. Rolling into the sand of the stage and then quickly rolling out of the way of passing angry hooves. Jaune somehow managed to stay on his horse, by clinging to the saddle horn instead of the reigns. He let it run across the arena away from where the fire work had gone off, and circle around the roped edge for a bit before trying to calm it. The other maidens and workers for the arena managed to eventually calm the other horses, though they were much to agitate to let anyone on them. The show would have to be canceled until the next go around in two hours.

The crowd was not pleased with this, but there really was nothing they could do. Jaune had miraculously been the only one able to stay on his horse, though he looked flushed like he had just ran a marathon as he slowly got his horse back under control. 

“Good handling Jaune.” Pyrrah complemented him once he dismounted and was leading the horse towards the back. “I learn from the best- and so does Juniper. That was mostly your training with her showing through.” Jaune blushed, but then his face went contemplative. He turned to the origin of all the commotion. “What was that some kind of gun shot?”

“I sure hope not.” Pyrrah said, looking over the crowd warily as they exited the field into the walled enclosure behind, where the horses and equipment were held.

“I think it was a fire work.” Of the other knights, his colors green and black with a tasteful splattering of mud, spoke up as the bottle neck brought everyone closer to each other.

“Some kid in a blue hoodie.” “Wasn’t there some kid running around yesterday causing trouble?” “Yeah, fired a cross bow bolt at someone over by the games.” “I heard he was messing around with people in Character costumes too.”

Jaune and Pyrrah slowly turned to look at him as the accusations built up. Eyes wide and questioning, but not voicing anything out loud. David stopped mid-step, pointing to the side awkwardly.

“I uh, should go catch up with Max. He’s… uh. I’m sorry.” David apologized quickly, leaving the two behind and exiting through one of the side exits for the back area by the stadium.

He circled around to the stadium side, squinting over the crowds and looking for a particular shade of blue. Max hadn’t stuck around, much too smart to stay and get in trouble. He figured as much, and left the stadium behind, looking around and keeping his eyes peeled as he looked around. Though a pull in the back of his mind and his feet led him almost in a straight line.

David found Max halfway across the fair, sitting at the back of a crowd and watching a band play some music. He had a giant thing of cotton candy in his hands, and was picking away at it victoriously. Like he was celebrating almost getting nine people trampled by horses and ruining one of the biggest show slots for the fair.

David made his way through the crowd listening to the band carefully. Circling around Max’s periphery and to his back before even trying to get closer. If Max saw him coming he’d run for sure. David knew this from experience, and paused to stand behind a tall group of teenagers when Max happened to check his surroundings. Once the boy was turned back to the stage David made his move. Advancing, then picking Max up by the back of his jacket.

Max made of noise of surprise, but despite this David kept walking. Carrying him under one arm straight out of the small circle of benches. Max struggled to get free, and in doing so managed to drop his cotton candy. David, knowing how much the overworked staff at the fair struggled to keep the park clean, picked it up and made sure to deposit it into a trash can.

“Hey! That was mine.” David had to actively bite his lower lip to keep a smart remark from leaving his mouth. He was far too tired to not be frustrated by Max’s behavior, and he didn’t think he could keep his tone amiable. Antagonizing Max was not what he needed to do right now. Despite his short mood making him want too.

Max made a fruitless effort to escape again. Kicking his feet and pulling at David’s arm clamped around his torso. “Let go of me!” Max demanded, and David once again kept silent. Walking steadily towards Dad’s wood working shop.

“David!” Max said his name frustratingly, and pounded a fist on his arm. Probably leaving a bruise or two, but David didn’t loosen his grip. Max huffed in frustration. “If you don’t let me down, I’m going to start screaming about being kidnapped of some shit.” Max threatened. When David didn’t give him a response, Max seemed to only then realize that hadn’t said anything up until this point.

Max’s voice wavered uncertainly. “… you’re angry aren’t you?” His tone changing immediately. Instead of fighting he seemed to become reserved, almost afraid.

David remembered Max acting the same way when Mr. Jones, Max’s father, had become angry. Then he recalled the confession the boy had made last night just before Daniel had ran off.  Maybe he _was_ afraid. This thought had David slowing down his pace until he came to a stop. Realizing it might be time for another talk.

David set Max down and huffed in frustration. “No Max. I’m not angry. I’m just…” David wondered how he should put this.

“Disappointed?” Max tried to finish his sentence. A bitter tone to his voice.

“No.” David could say that with certainty. He guided the boy over to a less crowded area of the street. Between a shop selling costumes and his mother’s fortune shop. Just a stone’s throw away from the carpentry shop. This felt like a conversation they should have away from the others. Max thankfully didn’t run off immediately.

“It’s just.” David sighed and took a moment to crouch down to be more on Max’s level. “Is this really how you want things to be?”

Max’s brow furrowed, “What?”

“Between us. **This**.” David gestured between the two of them. “Because if you think that I want to be- to be _punishing_ you constantly like this. You clearly don’t know me that well.”

“You’re not constantly punishing me.” Max scowled. Perhaps this conversation was a bit over his head. David pressed on anyway.

“Well, to me it feels like I am.” David counted off the occasions. Between the truck stop, last night, this morning, and now… no wonder Max was starting to think he was scary.

“I don’t want to be constantly reprimanding you Max. I want you to understand this; but at the same time I can’t just let you get away with doing certain things.”

“Well why not?” Max asked with a shrugged

“Because as your guardian it’s my job.” David couldn’t keep the frustration from rising up in his voice. It wasn’t directed at Max it was just… he was tired. This probably wasn’t a conversation he should be having on a lack of sleep. Well. Maybe that’s why he was having it. He wasn’t so sure at the moment.

Max seemed to think about this for a second. Putting his hands into his jacket pocket. “Well it sounds to me like you’re stressing way too much about this stuff. Why not, I don’t know. Just not worry about it?”

Max was clearly trying to play an angle that would get him out of trouble. David pinched the bridge of his nose and massaged the area. The boy just never stopped pushing, did he?

“That’s another thing about being a guardian. I have to care. I _do_ care,” David stressed, “A lot about you Max. I want you know that.”

David looked to Max for some kind of understanding. The kid looked unimpressed, and David realized he wasn’t listening. David tried not to take it personally. The kid was frustrated, of course he didn’t want to listen to him right now. David rubbed his hands on his thighs and let out a slow breath, turning away from Max to look at the plants on display just inside Mom’s shop. They were hydrangeas. David gathered his resolve.

“So. When we get back to the store its back to Standing. Okay?”

“What? No!” Max raised his voice indignantly. Childishly stomping his foot. “I was doing that shit all morning!”

“Well, you should have thought of that before you decided to start a stampede.” David held his ground, and held up a finger to keep Max from yelling at him. “Any more arguing and you’ll be starting up with more than one board.”

Max held his breath and looked absolutely livid. David had never seen the boy throw a tantrum before, and he worried for a second if he would have to deal with one, but it never came. After twenty or so seconds Max looked away and refused to look at him. Glaring a hole into the sign advertising palm readings beside him.

“Like I said. I don’t want to do this.” David took a breath and remained steady. “But you aren’t giving me much of a choice. You really need to stop acting out like this. I’m fine with a small prank here or there- but endangering people is where I draw the line.”

“ _Or_ maybe you could choose to be a cool parent and not hold shit against me.” Max might have been offering that as a joke. It just came out bitter.

David lightened his tone to more of an explanatory one. “No. That would make me a bad parent. Didn’t you learn anything from incubating those platypus eggs?”

“I learned that nature’s fucking full of bat shit cannibals.” “Max. Language, please.” “But it’s true! That thing just literally ate its own baby.” Max threw his arms out straight and looked at his hands, “I’m going to be scarred for life on that one.”

David didn’t doubt it. Seriously those animals were such a menace. He recalled the first camp they ever incubated the aquatic mammals in and grimaced. Not Campbell’s finest idea. David shook the memory out of his mind.

“Come on. We need to get back to the shop. Daniel’s probably still waiting to go on lunch break.” David rose up to his full height and stretched. His tired muscles aching from squatting for so long. Max lead the way back to the shop, but wasn’t overly thrilled to do so. David suspected that if Max had any less dignity he would definitely have been stomping his feet.

“Good. I hope he’s miserable.” “Max, that’s not very nice.”

“Well what if I don’t _want_ to be nice?” Max asked grumpily, clearly set on being difficult. “It mixes with me about as well as oil and water.”

David kept his tone gentle. “It’s not that hard Max. It just takes a little effort.”

“Talking to _you_ takes effort.” “Well. Thank you for putting up with me then.”

David countered Max’s snide with a pleasant offer, opening the door for the woodshop for Max. Max glared up at him grumpily, huffed, and barreled right past Daniel into the back of the shop. David’s double looked up from the register. Probably alarmed by the negative energy the kid was giving off or something. He seemed concerned to see Max’s mood the polar opposite from when they left for the jousting tournament.

“What happened?” Daniel asked once David made his way over to the front counter.

David sat down on the stool in front of the register and sighed tiredly. “Parenting.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: uhhh, i edited it. The ending felt very rushed and out of character. sorry.
> 
> Long time no see guys! You thought i'd abandoned this, didn't you? don't lie; because I won't.
> 
> This. Chapter. Is. So. Freakin. Long.  
> Like I have been legit working on it since before I posted Chapter 10. Because usually i'm halfway through the next chapter while Cursing Vermin is editing and what not. I didn't even have to go back and rewrite it to much! it just legit took this long. Anyway. There's a lot I want to cover in this end note so if you have been a fan of this series for a while, please stick around.
> 
> I think it's time we do some house cleaning.
> 
> The first elephant in the room: updates. When I first posted this series it was summer, and I didn't have a lot going on in my personal life but the advent of school and hurricane Harvey has swept the beautiful free time I had to write this series and eaten it away. Between football season bringing in a flux at work, and some other personal changes, I don't have the time I once did. That said- I'm not abandoning this work at all. Far from it. I'm so hyped on this series it's all I basically talk about. My BF and CV can contest. That said, I think it's about time we actually come up with a system that gives us all a steadier time frame for posting chapters. I'm thinking, one update a month. Usually posted on the first, or within the third day of each month. I know it's a little slow, but Cursing Vermin's and my schedules are a little difficult to synchronize for edits. (She actually hasn't had time to edit this chapter as i'm posting it, ironically. I'm sorry.) Honestly posting these weekly, or bi-weekly is impossible because it takes more than two weeks to write one of these chapters and get it edited. So a month is good for us, I hope it's good for you guys. Let me know what you think down in the comment section.
> 
> Next order of business: I finally figured out how to series this work. It's a little rough but this is my first time ever posting on this website. I thought collections were series but apparently they're two different things? It took me a while to figure this all out, and i'm still trying to figure it out. So i'm sorry if your inbox gets spammed with notes that the series is 'reposted' or 'updated' (this is for you guys who follow the series) but all it is is me linking them together or messing things up. I learn from experimenting with things and it might take me a few tries. As it stands both stories are part 2 of the series... i need to figure out how to reorder them so... ye. That said the prequel to Daniel's back story is posted. I will be making other character backstories eventually (how ppl met david and stuff like that) so look forward to that! 
> 
> Third point of order. I want to put a disclaimer here now. (I will be updating the tags, don't worry.) This story is going to start taking a dark turn starting with chapter 13. Not too many spoilers, but Max isn't going to get a 'happily ever after' just by being adopted by David. If you haven't caught onto that already, uh... maybe you're wondering why I haven't been wrapping things up by now? You must be terribly confused. As far as things go it's not going to get too gory, compared to some of the stories I've written go, this stuff is fairly tame. But I do want to warn anyone with PTSD that things might get a little shaky, and for people who have anxiety, there is a minor panic attack coming up. Just... if i don't have the work tagged for something let me know in the comments and I will add it. Once again I am still getting used to this whole system.
> 
> The forth point is more towards some errors in the chapter itself. I know there are errors in it. My beloved Cursing Vermin hasn't finished editing this chapter yet. She's gotten tied up in some things, and I will certainly be MUCH too occupied to post this chapter this coming weekend. So hold off on all your 'you mixed up David and Daniel's names here' and 'this wasn't quite right' comments if you may. An edit will be coming around next week, don't you worry. Also, they're usually minor things anyway, you're reading fan fiction not a published book. You'll live.
> 
> Well. These ending notes have almost been as long as the chapter itself. Sorry, not sorry.  
> Reviews are always welcome! How have you guys been?


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max learns a lesson the hard way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own the characters, rooster teeth does.

# Ch 12

Standing _sucked_.

It wasn’t so bad at first. Just annoying. But then keeping up your arms up for so long started to ache, and the boards started to get heavier. Eventually standing for so long got to your legs, feet and back. It was around then that keeping the boards up started to get harder, and harder until eventually the boards tumbled out of Max’s hands.

That was easily the most frustrating part.

Max had never been the fastest or strongest in his gym classes. But he still wouldn’t have considered himself out of shape. Holding up a stupid board in theory shouldn’t have been so hard. It sounded simple, but the fact that he couldn’t do it for more than an hour or two made him feel like a wimp.

Coming back from the jousting tournament, going back to Standing was the last thing Max wanted to do. His arms and legs were still aching from this morning and just the thought of being on his feet longer made him grimace.

Maybe he shouldn’t have set off those fireworks.

… Nah.

The absolute chaos had been hilarious. David just shouldn’t have caught him so soon. Seriously, it was bullshit how quickly he’d caught up to him. Especially since he was this tired; weren’t sleep deprived people supposed to be unobservant? They always were in TV shows. Max ought to be finishing his cotton candy right now, maybe taking another round on some of the shitty carnival rides. Instead he was standing there, watching David sell people wooden carvings and other shit. It was a fairly repetitive process that got super boring quickly. Max had no idea how he could keep up that goofy smile when he was clearly running out of energy from lack of sleep.

Actually no. Max knew exactly how he did it. David was _David_. No matter how miserable the guy was personally, the asshole thrived off making other people happy. Putting on a smile and selling knick-knacks was, if nothing, completely in his nature. He gave everyone that passed through friendly smiles, cracked jokes, and listened to people talk about how much fun they were having at the fair. Which most people were, it was hard not to. Needless to say all of the positivity David was generating made Max want to roll his eyes and gag. Sad to say though, he was stuck watching David ring up customers while he stood in the corner with his plank.

At least the store itself was something to look at. The wooden carvings in Red’s shop were decently priced, and ranged from statues to wooden cups to small pieces of furniture you could order and have mailed to your home. So there was something for everyone to at least be interested in. If people didn’t want to buy anything, there was a giant wooden throne to take pictures on outside which attracted a lot of people in general, and a giant wooden bear inside which brought customers in to look at the store itself. There was also what looked like a giant chess set outside, though Max thought that it belonged to the fortune telling store next door. Until he caught Daniel teaching some kids how to play the game.

Max almost made a remark about that, almost. But David had assured him that the two hour no cursing rule could still apply for this ‘time out’; and he couldn’t trust himself not to let something slip. So Max had taken his right to remain silent. As he had yet to complain about having to be punished, that ment he had started with one board.

One board. Two hours.

Max could do this.

Even though his arms were really starting to protest, and standing up for this long was starting to make his legs ache. Stopping for lunch had been a nice reprieve, but it certainly had been a mistake. His arms protested in betrayal and his feet complained more than Nerris when Gwen took her cape away from her to do laundry. It was one of those-you-stopped-so-it-got-harder situations. It sucked.

At least Daniel hadn’t said say anything so far. The cultist had clearly wanted to, judging by the looks he was giving when David explained briefly what had happened. It was Max’s unhappy glare that had kept him from more than opening his mouth. The blonde backing down when he caught him glaring.

The constant presence of the blonde annoyed Max. Like, _no one_ seemed to seriously care that this psychopathic serial killer was standing there, talking to customers. Max knew that movies didn’t exactly represent real life; but it seemed unnatural that a bad guy could _ask_ a customer how their day was going and get a normal answer without… Max didn’t know- laughing maniacally? He couldn’t really see Daniel laughing maniacally though. Maybe doing the whole creepy warning-implication thing that some villains did when the protagonist wasn’t realizing they were evil and totally giving away their plans or something. Yeah, that was definitely more Daniel’s style. He could see the blonde doing that.

The two of them avoided each other for the most part of the day. Though it wasn’t hard to thanks to Max being stuck behind the counter and Daniel mainly working in front of it. Daniel’s job for the most part seemed to be managing the lines for taking pictures with the statues, telling people all about the store and suggesting certain items for them to buy.

People fell for his charismatic charms each time, it made Max lose a little piece of what little faith he had in humanity each time. Seriously, was everyone an idiot? The blonde even talked to a few people about the ‘positive effects’ of food to some people- and they listened! Talking about it like it was some kind of high-end diet thing Daniel was recommending. The guy ought to be lucky his job kept him in front of the counter, or Max would have definitely tripped him as he walked past. Gaining an extra board for it or not.

Overall standing there was entertaining for about ten minutes, then it got boring, and Max had been standing there literally all day. He started zoning out just after the first hour, and it became a fight to keep the single board in his hands straight not just through the fatigue, but because he kept loosing focus. Inevitably though, all it took was him not paying attention for long enough, and leaning just a bit too far to one side.

He dropped the single board 90 minutes in, the wood slipping out of his grip. Max jolted awake when he realized what was happening. Throwing his arms out to catch the board. Said board bounced off his knuckle, and clattered to the floor.  

“No! Bullshit!”

“Max!” David didn’t sound reprimanding, just surprised. Probably since he hadn’t expected for Max to drop the board either. He excused himself from the register and walked over. “Are you okay?”

“No, I had it I just- I fucking closed my eyes for **one** second.” Max fumed, rubbing his knuckle and glaring at the board which had just slipped out of his fingers. “That doesn’t count as a drop. I can do this.”

David crouched down beside him, reaching out with his hands.  “I was more worried about your hand. Let me see.”

“No, I’m fine.” Max turned away from David, keeping his hand away from the man. It was fine, and even if it wasn’t he didn’t need David worrying over him like a hen. He glanced down and scooped up the board. “Look, I can finish this.”

“Maybe now’s a good time to stop.” David said tentatively, stopping him from holding up the board, “I can see you’re getting frustrated-”

“No- no I’m half an hour away from finishing this. Give me the fucking board.” Max tried to pull the board out of David’s grasp, and managed to do so. Provably more because David let him do so rather than Max having any actual strength.

That didn’t mean David was pleased, however. Here came the disapproving tone. “Max. There isn’t anything to ‘finish’.”

“Like hell there isn’t. Look, I know I broke the cussing rule, but it’s a stupid tiny plank of wood. I can carry the thing for thirty more minutes.” Max argued.

David’s looked torn. Like he knew Max had a point but also had his own point to make. He opened his mouth, but David’s father spoke over him.

“Let the boy finish.” Red rumbled, towering over the two of them. The commotion they were causing had attracted the man’s attention.

David stood up, definitely unhappy with his father’s intervention. “ **Dad**.” _Oh_ , so David could use that tone on other people. Usually he just reserved it for Max when he cursed. Interesting.

“He should finish what he started.” Red stated firmly, putting his hands on his hips. “I’ll watch him.”

David glanced between the two of them and between the register, unhappy but indecisive. Max sneered, never missing out on the opportunity to get a jab in. “Yeah David. Go do your job.”

David closed his eyes, like he was trying not to say something in response to Max’s words. He looked tired, and Max noticed for the first time he actually had bags developing under his eyes. The guy rubbed at eyes and after almost a full twenty seconds of considering things turned around. “Fine. Okay.”

Max couldn’t help but grin a bit in victory. That smile faded when Red stepped between him and David. A not-so-kind expression on the giant man’s face. Max swallowed nervously. Suddenly not feeling so victorious. Red took the thin board from him, and hefted out something from underneath the counter. A spare, averaged size, wooden stool. Kind of like the one David had been leaning on most of the day.

Red all but dropped it in Max’s hands, who barely managed to catch it. He nearly lost of his balance, backed up a few steps, and gritted his teeth as his arms protested the new weight. He looked up at David’s father, who crossed his arms with a stern gaze.

“Thirty minutes, right?” “W-wait, you want me to lift _this_?” Max asked, almost fearfully. More for his back than anything else. The damn stool was significantly heavier than the board he had had before. “ _Why_?”

“Language.”

Max opened his mouth, closed it, and opened it again. Not really sure how to respond to that. David’s father kept up his flat, unimpressed glare. So Max opted to keep silent as well. He grit his teeth, and adjusted the stool in his arms.

“R-right.” It took some doing, but Max managed to heft the stool above his head. First straight up, but he nearly fell over from the height. The weight made him take a few steps to the side where he all but hit the wall, jostling some of the figurines. Max fearfully expected Red to say something about that, but he remained unimpressed. Max sheepishly readjusted the stool and turned it long ways; finding it easier to balance that way. He hefted the stool up again.

“No balancing it on your head.” Red stated firmly. “Arms straight.” Max, with great strain, managed to do just that. Arms shaking from exhaustion and complaining twice about the extra burden.

“Stand up straighter.” Red all but barked, and the harsh tone actually made Max flinch a bit. It sounded like the guy was one of those generals who trained marines in the war movies. Then again, with how crazy David’s family apparently was Max didn’t think that was too much of a stretch.

Max tried to glance over to the aforementioned David, but Red was like a mountain. Encompassing his field of vision. The man continued to do so as he drilled him.

“Not like that. Feet apart, shoulder width. That’s too far. Face them forward. Straight. You’re not a duck. Straighten your back. No _properly_.”

God damn it. Max should have taken David’s out and just quit while he was ahead. Max cursed his stubbornness. Red seemed temporarily satisfied with Max’s posture and stood there for the whole remaining time. Instantly correcting Max if he even so much as slouched an inch out of line. Granted it was a bit easier to balance standing like this… but it hurt way more. Muscles Max didn’t even know he had were complaining as they worked for the first time in probably ever.

Five minutes in, Max was genuinely starting to sweat.

This barstool was _heavy_. Damnit.

This sucked. Standing was the worst.

Max felt his arms start to shake, and he closed his eyes and tried to keep his balance steady.

You know what?

Maybe he shouldn’t have lit that firework earlier.

“Slouching. Stand up straighter.”

Yeah… definitely not worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own the characters, rooster teeth does.
> 
> ...
> 
> are you guys exited for summer camp 2018?


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daniel approaches David about some concerns. He's happy to lend an ear, but it's always a little iffy as to how the blonde actually takes advice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I'm trying to keep up with the monthly postings. I do not own these characters.

# Ch. 13

“… David?”

David blinked into awareness, and he found himself unconsciously packing up some store items into a crate. Something he wasn’t quite sure when he’d started. Had his dad asked him to do this? Probably, he just didn’t remember. He had been kind of cruising by on auto pilot for a while now. Between the shop, Max, and everything else, David was running on fumes. Day Fours usually were like this, but this one in particular had been tiring. And the day wasn’t even over yet.

Once David had caught up with his surrounding he turned to Daniel, who was frowning with concern. “Sorry, Daniel. I zoned out there for a minute. Did you need something?”

Daniel seemed hesitant to speak. “I wanted to talk. If that’s okay with you.”

“Talk? Sure. What about?” “About tomorrow.”

Tomorrow? Oh, his sacrificial thing. David closed up the box he had been packing and took stock of their surroundings. His father was in the back counting up the tills and settling orders, leaving Daniel to clean things up and David to pack up boxes for tomorrow. Apparently. He wasn’t quite sure if his father had told him to do this or not. It might have been an un-conscious decision. He wouldn’t have been surprised.

There was no one else around. Max was most definitely still sulking underneath a pile of blankets on the couch sofa. Mom and Ren were sorting out their own shop. His father was, once again, occupied. So the likelihood of anyone showing up was low. Now was a good of a time as ever to broach the topic.

“Sure. What about it?” David pushed the box away with so that Daniel had his undivided attention.

“I was wondering if we should still go through with things.” Daniel admitted hesitantly.

“What do you mean?” David frowned, wondering where this was coming from. The other day Daniel had been willing to go against his father’s wishes to have this happen. His **father**. You know, the near 8-foot-constantly-looks-like-he-wants-to-strangle-you guy? Where was this change of mind coming from all of a sudden?

“I mean… Max clearly isn’t happy with my beliefs.” Daniel tilted his head to the side, stretching his neck out some. “He… made that pretty clear to me this morning.”

Max. That’s where this was coming from. “Yes, I guess he did.” David squinted his eyes in question. “But isn’t this… ritual really important for you? I thought this was an opportunity or something you couldn’t miss out on. That’s what you were saying the other day when we spoke to my father.”

Daniel struggled to find a simple answer, and David had to wonder if this was the real issue Daniel was dealing with or not. The blonde was clearly choosing his words wisely. “I just… don’t want to make matters between the two of us- between Max and I- to worsen.”

David shook his head and put his hands on his hips. “Is this because of the Standing? That wasn’t anything on your part.” David assured, “Max did all of that to himself.”

Daniel begged to differ. “He’s acting out because he’s **scared** of me, David. I’m…” The blonde hesitated, took a step back and held his hands in front of himself. He spoke a bit of frustration in his voice. “I’m not okay with that.”

David blinked then gave Daniel a good once over. Surprised to find that the blonde looked genuinely agitated. Like he was itching to say something. David leaned up against the stool by the register, and sat down onto it. Leaning forward to listen and prompting Daniel to speak his mind.

“You’re not?”

“No.” The blonde turned towards the back shelf, and then the counter. Almost pacing before he spoke.

“All day Max has been sending me negative looks.” Daniel explained, gesturing with his hands. “Glaring at me. _Threatening_ me. It’s because of the negative energy between us, David. And there’s just so **much** of it. I don’t want to- no I **can’t** make things worse.”

Daniel stopped and steadied himself, looking uncertain. “That’s why I was thinking. Maybe if I decide not to do the ritual he’d be happier with me? Perhaps it would be a good way for us to start clearing the air between us.”

Daniel proposed this more as a possibility than a certainty. David was surprised by this level of lucidity coming from Daniel. Usually when it came to logical leaps his companion fell more than a little short. David crossed his arms and leaned back, considering what Daniel was proposing.

“I think that if you did call of the Sacrifice, it would be a good start for you and Max to find common ground.” David admitted, “But, I’m suspecting a ‘but’ here?”

Daniel’s body language confirmed that this was the case. His shoulders sunk, and his expression turned grim. “I’m worried that if I don’t do the ritual tomorrow, things will only get worse for my current following.”

“… okay? Explain.” David prompted Daniel to continue speaking.

The blonde started to pace from the counter to the shelves again, a cramped space that definitely wasn’t ideal for any sort of movement. “The whole reason Max holds such negativity towards me, is because I didn’t finish the Sacrifice at the camp. Things were started, but never finished. Because of that Max must be experiencing a negative backlash of some kind. Negativity cause by me, David. It’s my fault he’s like this!” He pointed to his chest and turned towards David, clearly wanting to make this point. “My fault!”

David gathered himself up and took a deep breath before exhaling slowly. Choosing his words. “Have you considered… that the reason Max is angry at you… is because you tried to sacrifice him at _all_? Not because things didn’t go as planned?”

“That’s exactly what we’re dealing with here!” Daniel threw up his hands and turned away, as if David had just confirmed his theory. He turned back to David, running a hand through his hair. “Thank you David. You’re the only one that ever seems to get this stuff. I swear sometimes when people don’t understand these things it makes me start to wonder if I really am crazy.”

David bit his lip and wondered if he should say something. Daniel didn’t give him the opportunity too, plowing on.

“Max clearly wasn’t fit to be sacrificed.” Daniel laid out the point before him, like he was trying to think something through. “So things went sour when I tried to ascend him, when he wasn’t ready to be. That’s why he’s experiencing so much back lash. I have to set things right. But if don’t do that with my current following- they’ll experience the same back lash.”

“Are you sure about that?” David asked skeptically.

Daniel paused, and rubbed his forehead, thinking. “Perhaps. Maybe. Until Camp Campbell I had never messed up a ritual before. I didn’t know exactly what would happen, but this backlash is clearly a side effect. I shouldn’t risk exposing other people to it, right?”

Okay. Not what David had been going for- but this explained a few things. Apparently Daniel had never doubled back on any cities that he’d been active in. So this was probably the first time he was ever dealing with any consequences of what his religion left behind. Interesting. David clasped his hands together and leaned forward. Choosing his words carefully. “Well, I’m not exactly an expert on religion or anything, so I don’t know. … What does your texts or whatever say about things like this?”

Daniel put his hands on his hips, and looked at his shoe, clearly in thought. “… My job as a Shepard is to promote positivity in all people.” He stated like it was some kind of memorized script.

David crossed his arms and got comfortable. “Okay.”

“That means I need to fix this negativity between Max and I, but still do right by my current following. It’s my responsibility to keep them on track.” “Okay.” “Which means that I need to do the sacrifice tomorrow. They’re good people, but if I leave them as they are now they’re just going to lose everything they’ve worked towards. Without me here to guide them, they’ll become miserable again.” “Okay.” “So that means… this is something I need to do. For my flock. If they don’t ascend tomorrow, everything we have worked for up until now will be for naught. I’m responsible for making sure my following ascends properly.” “… Okay.”

“I just…” Daniel scratched the back of his head, looking around confused. As if surprised to find himself exactly where he had started. “I guess I shouldn’t change anything in the end. Stick to the plan we already made?”

“If that’s what you choose to do.” David relinquished.

“I’ll have to hope that I can reach Max in some other way.” Daniel frowned and then crossed his arms.  “… he’s not going to be happy about it. He isn’t happy now.”

“Well, we are going to be in a car with him for two days.” David reminded Daniel, “Four days if you count the ride back.”

Daniel nodded, as if seeing David’s point. “Yes they do say that close quarters make unlikely friends.”

David frowned, uncertain. “… people say that?”

“Of course they do.” Daniel said confidently, and then lost that confidence upon seeing David’s expression, “… do they not?”

“I have never heard that expression before.” David shook his head.

Daniel turned to face him more, as if not believing him. “When you were a kid you were never forced to sit with someone until you got along with them?”

That sounded almost as bad as holding logs above one’s head. David scrunched his nose. “No.”

“Strange, we did that all the time back home.”  Daniel frowned with thought, “And I think I’ve seen something similar out here… ‘get along shirts’ or something like that?”

“I thought that was a meme.”  “It’s a punishment people do for siblings who are fighting.” Daniel explained. “You get an over sized shirt and put two kids in them… only back home we had to sit in a room- you know what? That’s probably why you’re not familiar with, you don’t have any siblings, do you?”

“No. It’s just me.” David confirmed with a shrug.

Daniel nodded, and the conversation seemed to drift to an end. Though after a pause Daniel spoke up again.

“Thank you for listening to me David.” “It’s no problem.”

“No, I really appreciate you doing this for me.” Daniel insisted, a little shyly. “I know this isn’t a conversation normal people usually have. Usually I just have to hash things out on my own. It’s nice, finally having someone who bothers to listen.”

“No one’s normal Daniel.” David patted him on the arm before sliding off the stool. “Besides. Normal is just a social construct that we’ve developed over time to make people fit in line with social standards.” David shrugged. “I never make an effort to be normal. It’s just another form of lying to yourself.”

“I guess that’s one way to think about it.” Daniel nodded his head to the side, something of a small tick of his. He looked back towards the shop; going to suggest they get back to closing up for the night, but stopped himself. “David.” He asked, clearly thinking of something.

“Hmm?”

“After we finish up here, I’m going to need to prepare some things for tomorrow… How am I supposed to get ready for tomorrow without making Max… upset?” Daniel asked uncertainly.

David scratched the back of his head, then shrugged. “I could get Max out of the house for a bit if you wanted to. That would probably work best. Then tomorrow you should probably leave without too much of a fuss. Hopefully he will be too occupied with packing that he won’t notice you’re gone. Less drama and all.” David waved a hand dismissively and turned back to the box he had been packing earlier.

Daniel still seemed uncertain. “You don’t think he’ll be angry?” “Angry about what?” “About you lying to him.”

“I’m not going to lie to him Daniel. It’s just keeping him out of stuff he doesn’t need to get involved with. Doesn’t _want_ to get involved with.” David reminded the blonde as he finished off one box, turning around to get another. “Keeping him from this stuff isn’t anything negative. It’s just parenting, but kind of in that morally fuzzy grey area.”

“Your specialty.” Daniel reminded himself.

“Exactly!” David perked up with a smile. “So don’t worry too much about it. Now come on, we should probably finish up this packing. Before Dad comes in and has us holding chairs above our heads for slacking off.”

Daniel hesitated, but then agreed. Helping him start to pack up the unsold merchandise into boxes. It took a while to close up the shop for the night. It could have been a shorter time, but Daniel had never prepped the store for a move before. So David had to teach him where everything went. Which wasn’t his fault entirely, he just didn’t know the system. Eventually they got everything put away; setting everything up in neat piles so they could load it up onto the Rig tomorrow.

Dad, of course, didn’t thank them for their work. Silently ignoring their presence as they walked through the workshop and back into the house. He was packing up the last of his own tools and equipment in the shop. Daniel wished him a good night, but got no response. David didn’t bother, he knew there was no point to it. If Dad was working, he wasn’t talking.

Max was still hunkered down in the living room. Exactly where he had retreated once he had finished Standing a few hours ago. He seemed to have made himself a nest of some kind. Pilling up blankets and pillows into a fort, cuddling up with his teddy bear like a grumpy cat. He was watching some kind of TV soap opera. The kind of thing Gwen liked to watch while having ‘girl time’. It wasn’t the kind of thing David would have thought a kid like Max would enjoy watching. Though he did recall Gwen mentioning this particular one was really good.

How anything based around Cosco could be, he would never understand. Dramas just weren’t really his thing.

David observed this all as he walked into the room, and paused at the door as inspiration hit him. Max; looked comfy. It would… be a shame… if someone went over there… and ruined that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Howdy guys! Guess who's baaaack? Sorry about the long hiatus we had there for a bit. Things have been pretty busy here, but I'm no where near giving up on this story just yet. Season 3 is coming up! (squeals) The ball is just kind of starting to just now get rolling, so be looking for forward for things to come! Reviews are always appreciated, thanks and stay awesome!


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I literally spent 2 months trying to find out an un-akward way to end this chapter. so here it is... in all its awkwardness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own these characters. Reviews are always welcome.

# Ch 14

Max had been sitting on the couch watching TV when David came in from closing up the shop. He was bundled up in the blankets and pillows left over from yesterday’s movie night, and didn’t look like he was planning on moving anytime soon.

David couldn’t help the grin that snuck over his face as a terrible idea came to mind. Well, it wasn’t truly terrible. Just… a little pay back for the shit Max and his friends had been pulling on him for a good portion of the summer.

He took two running steps, and vaulted over the back of the couch.

“SURPRISE!”

David yelled. Grabbing Max from around the middle and using his momentum to drag both of them off the floor. There was a space between the coffee table and the couch David was aiming for, he made sure they landed with him on his back, Max secured in his arms. Max was less prepared. He dragged half of the blankets and pillows off the couch with him. Clinging to them like a cat that didn’t like to be picked up. Max also made a noise, which had them both freezing in place for a moment after they stopped rolling.

“What- what was that?! Did you just _squawk?_!” David snorted and then laughed. Throwing his head back against the floor when he did so.

Max’s ears turned red from embarrassment. “What. The _Fuck_ is wrong with you?!” He yelled indignantly, elbowing David in the gut. He struggled out of David’s arms, untangling himself from the blankets he had dragged to the floor with him. When he emerged he was incredibly ruffled and increasingly displeased. He glared down at David, trying to save face- but the effort was in vain.

“David, I swear to god. Stop laughing or I will end your existence as a human being.”

David kept laughing, struggling to speak. “At- at least I’m human. Apparently I adopted a _bird_.” David couldn’t stop his laughter. He pressed a hand to his face. It was just _too_ funny. He didn’t care if Max retaliated. He could take getting hit by a car, a ten year old probably wouldn’t do much worse.

“What in the world is going on in here?” Daniel came in from the workshop, concerned.

“David’s being stupid again.” “Daniel- Max makes the most hilarious noise when he gets surprised.” “That wasn’t a surprise! That was a grown man throwing himself at me. It was terrifying. Stop _laughing_.”

David couldn’t, every time he tried to get it under control he just started laughing again. Max’s childish threats were just too funny. He wrapped his hands around his ribs. Trying to keep them from splitting as he giggled on the floor.

Daniel and Max both stood over him, one just kind of watching the other pouting grumpily. After a good minute Daniel turned to Max. “Uh, I think you broke him.”

“Good evening boys!” His mom greeted everyone enthusiastically as she came into the room. Just like David tended to do at the camp. Ren followed after her. They were both were carrying armloads of plants and equipment from the upstairs workshop.

She took one look at him at the floor and diagnosed him. “I see we’ve reached the point of exhaustion where everything’s funny.”

“Mom.” David giggled, sitting up and leaning an arm on the coffee table. “Mom. You just missed it, Max squawks like a bird when he’s caught off guard.”

“I do **not**.” Max picked up a pillow and whacked him in the face with it.

David blocked the blow the best he could, but he was kind of cornered against the coffee table. Risking another attack from Max, David grinned. “But you **do**.”

“What like you did when your voice was cracking?” His mom set down some potted plants on the dining table. “Oh, that’s adorable.”

“I am **not** adorable.” Max fumed, barley keeping his voice steady. He was red from embarrassment, and even redder from anger. David snorted, and tried not to laugh. Max _was_ adorable, but if he ever said so out loud it would be a death sentence. Despite his best efforts to keep a straight face he still gave himself away. Max threw the pillow at him once last time and retreated back onto the couch grumpily.

His mother changed the subject. “David, have you by any chance checked your email?”

“No, I haven’t.” David sobered up a bit, though he was still grinning. He reached for his back pack where said device was.

“Don’t.”

David let go of his bag as if it had stung him. “Okay.”

“Why? Oh! Did you have a vision?”” Daniel asked, and a look of child-like wonderment grew on his face. It was like watching a usually calm Labrador realize someone was holding a leash. David covered his mouth and tried not to giggle too much.

“Daniel the whole point of her telling him _not_ to check his email is so that he won’t know.” Ren explained calmly.

Daniel _deflated_. “Why?”

“Cause its trouble.” Mom spoke with a serious tone. Giving him a pointed look. “Stay away from your work for a while.”

“Yes ma’am.” David saluted to show he understood. His grin probably didn’t make him look to honest, but he was. He knew his mom was warning him and trying to keep him safe. Not withholding information from him.

The conversation chain broke down, and they split off to do their own things. David went into the kitchen and portioned out plates of leftover spaghetti that everyone could warm up in the microwave. They were heading out tomorrow, so there wasn’t any point in making anything new.

Mom asked Daniel to help carry some plants upstairs and he agreed. The plan was for Ren to take the plant workshop with him tomorrow. Most of the decorative plants were kept upstairs workshop, because that was where they made the cool hanging terrariums sold in mom’s shop. Everything she kept here in the house was the more practical stuff. Like the Juniper and Yew plants they moved upstairs. Plants for treating illness. This winter was going to be bad for the flu if the almanacs were anything to go by. Which was why Mom wanted to give the plants to Ren. Illness was in the near future for over half his team and Ruby’s apparently. David wished them all luck silently. Watching them shuffle plants around as he warmed up leftovers for dinner.

Max had retreated back to the couch, salvaging as much of his blanket fort as he could. He’d turned up the TV pointedly while Green and everyone had been talking. David wondered if he was angry. Though the second he thought that David realized the obvious answer. Of course he was. David had not only invaded his personal space, but then kind of made fun of him for it. Not a good move in hindsight if he wanted to Max out of the house like he had promised Daniel. Max didn’t take orders well after all. He was either going to decide on his own to come or he wasn’t going at all.

David ran a hand through his hair, thinking. He needed Max to be less grumpy. How to go about doing that?

David tapped his fingers on the counter, the microwave turning behind him with their leftovers inside. He pulled a secret bargaining chip out of the medicine cabinet, and secured it into his vest pocket. Pulled two cans of soda out of the fridge, and balanced them on their plates as he walked into the living room.

“Peace offering?” David offered, walking up to the coffee table after the others had left them alone. Max glared up at him from the couch. David approached with caution and put the plates down on the table.

“I know it’s just left overs, but we’re leaving tomorrow so there isn’t much in the fridge. I got you a cold soda, you hate ice cause it melts and gets watery, right?” David attempted a small smile, offering Max the chilled soda can. The kid turned back to the TV, ignoring him. David set the can within the kid’s reach and stood back up.

He cleared his throat awkwardly. “Max. I’m sorry I tackled you.”

Max glanced at him for just a second, and shifted on the couch before grumbling. “David, just go away.”

“No.” David didn’t think sitting down next to the boy was a good call, so he went for the floor instead. Using the side of the sofa as a backrest.

“David. I don’t feel like talking.” Max huffed angrily.

“There’s nothing to really talk about.” David agreed, opening his own soda. “I’m sorry, and that’s all I’m going to say.” David offered Max a shrug and took a drink from his can. He got settled- having to push some of the blankets still on the floor aside to make room for his legs. Once that was done he pulled his own plate closer and started eating the left overs. Max gave him a glare but settled back into the couch to watch the TV for a bit.

Awkward silence ensued.

David pushed through it the best he could. He tended to ramble on to people when hanging out with them. It helped fill the silence. Max clearly didn’t want that though, so he restrained himself. Eating his dinner, and trying to make some sense of the show Max was watching. To no avail. The entire show was in Spanish or something? There were caption on the screen but David didn’t have the attention span to pay attention to both the words and the actors. He would have asked how anyone even watched this stuff, but apparently Max and Gwen did. David eventually just pulled out his phone and started to scroll through face book.

When the next commercial break came up Max sat up a bit and pulled his plate of food to the couch. Using his lap as a table, he retrieved the soda as well, balancing it precariously on the side of the couch. When he opened it David made his move.

“Here. I got these for you.” David fished his olive branch out of his vest pocket, and without really even looking up from his phone, offered the container to Max.

“What are these?” “Pain meds. Your muscles are still sore form standing, right?” “… a little.” “Take one, it’ll help.”

Max took the bottle from him after a second. He fumbled with it for a full ten seconds before giving up in frustration

“David, can you? -I can’t get the cap off.” 

David hummed in acknowledgement, holding out his hand again. Max put the bottle back in his hand and David twisted off the child-lock cap with ease. Once the kid had one pill he replaced the lid and put it onto the coffee table. A little trophy of victory as far as David was concerned. He had tamed the beast. Success. Mom would be proud.

Dad, was not.

He came in from the workshop, finished with whatever he had been doing. Took one look at the two of them eating and watching TV, and was decidedly **not** happy.

“What are you two doing?!” he asked, letting the solid door close behind him with an almost slam. David flinched, Max actually _jumped_. It was a miracle neither of them spilt anything.

David turned around and squared his shoulders defensively. Knowing exactly what the man’s issue was. “We’re eating Dinner Dad. It’s not a crime.”

“On the sofa? You know that’s not allowed. What if you spill something?” “Then we clean it up.” “There’s a perfectly good dining table right here.” “Mom’s put plants all over it.” “So then move the plants.” “She’s organizing them for tomorrow.” “You could still move them.” “We were already sitting here.” “You’re supposed to eat at the table. I didn’t spend ten hours milling planks and stapling upholstery-”

“ _-just to have someone spill soda onto it_. I know I know.” David finished his dad’s sentence. Rolling his eyes, knowing full well the rant. His dad gave it to him like _every time_ he so much as got food near the damn furniture. It was so old, and pointless. Every bit of furniture in the house was hand-made and the guy fretted over them like they were babies. As if he couldn’t just make another.

David picked up his plate and rose to his feet as they argued, despite everything. This was a fight he wasn’t going to win, but he wasn’t going to just give up quietly. He dropped his half-empty plate onto the table and dragged the _delicate_ hand-carved chair out with a scrape. “You don’t have to give the same speech every time. I’m 24 dad. I’m not a kid anymore.” David huffed, sitting down at the table.

“I don’t care how old you are. It’s the principle of the matter.” His dad gestured to Max, who was still sitting on the couch.

“The kid ought to be taught better.” “Do not bring me into this.” “Max is old enough to know what he’s doing. He’s smart and can handle himself.” “You say that, but look how much you fucked up when you were his age.” “Everyone fucks up, Dad.” “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

David fumed. He was so done with this man right now. He stood up to leave. “I’m sorry I’m such a fucking disappointment then.”

His dad stopped him. “You’re taking this out of context.”

“What context? You’re telling me to my face that I’m less responsible than a ten year old.” “No. I’m not.” “Yes, you are.” “Why is it that you always hear every other word that I say?” “I can hear you just fine, you’re yelling at me, in my face.” “I am not yelling.” “Yes. You are.”

“Stop it!” Max’s voice jumped in between them. David leaned back, having almost forgotten Max was even there. Both he and his dad turned to find the kid on the couch. He had been covering his ears, but had removed them to shoot an accusing glare at the both of them. “Enough arguing. If I wanted to hear people bitch at each other, I would have just gone home to my fucking parents.”

Both his dad and he took a second, and looked at each other and realized that they had done it _again_. This always happened, two bulls and what not is what his mom always said. They stepped back from one another guiltily. David wasn’t sure when they’d squared up- but they certainly had. Fuck. He’d lost his temper again, hadn’t he? And in front of Max too. David ran a hand through his hair, feeling even guiltier.

“Sorry Max. You’re right.”

It was a weak apology, they all knew it. David sat back down at the table where he had put his plate. Dad went into the kitchen and made himself and mom some dinner. Now they were back at awkward silence again. Wonderful. David rubbed his eyes tiredly. How was he supposed to get Max to trust him?

Dad moved some plants, and sat down across from him with his own dinner. They ate in silence, avoiding one another’s gaze. Max settled back down with his plate, still sitting on the sofa. Dad didn’t tell him to move to the table. Which was bullshit, but David didn’t say anything. Too afraid to start another argument.

Mom came back down with another tray of plants. She set it onto the kitchen counter and dusted her hands off. “Well. I think that’s just about it. I’m all sorted for tomorrow.” She stopped and looked between both David and his father, and put her hands on her hips.

“Did you two argue again?” She asked, and shook her head. David lowered his head guiltily. Dad set his fork down and wiped his mouth off with a napkin. “Typical.” She sighed with a lecturing tone. “You’re worse than children, you realize this? I’m sorry you had to deal with that Max.”

“I’m used to it.” Max sounded bitter. Which made David feel even worse. He really wasn’t doing this whole ‘new’ family thing very well, was he?

“Used to it, new to it. My parents never argued much, but me and my _sister_.” Mom was talking to Max as she put a plate in the microwave and a water bottle from the pantry. “Sometimes I think when you’re too close to people, there’s nothing left to do but argue. Or maybe it’s human nature.”

“You know each other too well.” Max mumbled, putting his empty plate onto the table, along with his soda can.

Mom paused in twisting off the cap of her water bottle to consider Max’s words, before twisting the cap off completely. “Perhaps.”

Mom joined them at the table to eat. David was done, so he gave up his seat so she would have room to sit at the table even with all of the plants. He collected Max’s plate and rinsed them off in the sink.

“Is Ren done upstairs?” “Yes. Daniel and he were talking to each other about arranging the workshop to have better chi.” “Better what?” “Spiritual energy flow.” “Oh.” “Your father and I were thinking of going to the pub. Are you going to the bonfire?” “I was waiting for Ren to get off.” “You’re free to save him from Daniel’s clutches if you want. You boys have fun.”

David nodded, but his mind was elsewhere. How was he supposed to get Max to come along with him now? After blowing up like that, David didn’t think his chances were all that great. He looked over to Max for inspiration on how to approach the issue, but the kid was already looking at him, brows furrowed.

“What bonfire? You’re leaving?”

“There’s sort of a fair-wide end of the season party going on tonight.” David explained. “One of them is going to be a bonfire. Do you want to come?”

Max pulled a face. “Ew. No.”

Well, that blew all of David’s plans out of the water. Shit.

“But your parents are going to go out too?” Max looked over to the two adults sitting at the table, and then back to him. He looked nervous.  “What about Daniel?”

“What about Daniel?” David repeated Max’s question.

“Who’s going to watch him?” Max held out his hands pointedly.

“We don’t keep Daniel ‘under watch.’ He can do what he wants.” David saw an opportunity and took on a thoughtful tone. “He isn’t much one for parties. He’ll probably stay home and pray for our souls or something. So if you want to stay here and watch TV you can. I wouldn’t want to leave you alone in the house, but he could babysit you or something.”

Max gave him an aghast look before throwing off the blankets he was under. “I am **not** staying here alone with the serial cultist.”

“I don’t know if that’s what I’d call him. Serial cultist implies that he jumps from religion to religion, doesn’t it?” “Don’t care. I’m coming with you.” “You sure?” David asked, feigning surprise as Max pulled on his shoes.

Max rolled his eyes and counted off his fingers. “Let’s see. Stay in and be baby sat by a serial killer, or leave the house and not get murdered. Gee David, I wonder which I should choose.”

“Oh serial killer for sure.” Mom spoke up from the table, scraping the spaghetti into her bread. “Right honey?”

Dad looked up from his plate and after a moment spoke. “It’s good survival practice.”

“Okay. _Normal_ people.” Max stressed, pinching both his fingers and holding out his pinkies.

“If you were looking for normal, you should have stolen Gwen’s identity.” David advised honestly. “Go ahead and finish getting your shoes on. We’re just waiting on Ren. Oh, you might want to use the restroom before we go- there aren’t any restrooms at the field.”

“So long as I can bring my fireworks.” Max grumbled, climbing out of the little nest he had built. He pulled open his bag. Producing two boxes of M1000s, as well as a lighter.

David scratched his head and wondered where Max had gotten all of these explosives. He certainly hadn’t purchased this many for the kid come Fourth of July, did Gwen? David shrugged and guessed so. “Sure, why not. A bonfire is a more appropriate place for them than the jousting ring.”

Ren and Daniel came back down stairs soon after they got Max’s shoes on. Daniel making suggestions on how Ren could positively improve the workspace and Ren pretty much zoning him out. He obviously didn’t care much for what Daniel was going on about, but the blonde was pretty oblivious. He tended to ramble when he got on about spiritual stuff. David figured he was the same way when it came to camping though, so he couldn’t complain.

This was probably why Mom was cool with speaking up and taking Daniel’s attention. “Are you guys talking about feng-shui?” “Kind of. We call it something different.” “Interesting.” “The core concept is still the same. Arranging objects so that energy flows through a room. But we do it differently.” “How so?” Daniel sat down with his plate of food eagerly. Dad got up, not wanting to sit through what was clearly going to become a lecture.

“So… how big is this fire going to be?” Max pulled on David’s pant leg to get his attention. He had his shoes on.

David looked down and smiled enthusiastically. “Big. Probably about three times as big as the Sparrow Bonfire.” “What? That’s huge!” “They throw on all the unused firewood from the summer. There’s been a lot extra this year because of the burn bans.”

“You guys ready to go?” Ren asked, walking up after procuring a banana and some protein bars.

David checked his pockets. Phone, wallet, keys, knife. “Yeah, aren’t you going to eat some dinner?”

Ren shrugged, peeling the fruit. “I’m not all that hungry. Is Max coming with us?”

“Yeah, got a problem with that?” Max crossed his arms argumentatively.

“No. I’m glad actually, you’ll have a lot of fun.” Ren, ever the calm natured one wasn’t nonplussed by Max’s rude tone. “Jaune, Pyrrah and Nora are waiting for us at the training ring.”

Max threw his head back, feigning distress. “Ugh, them?”

“What’s wrong with Jaune and Pyrrah?” “They’re your friends.” “And? They’re pretty cool.” “David, being your friend is the definition of _uncool_.” “No it’s not.”

Ren snorted, covering his mouth as he chewed on his snack. He led the way out of the house, out through the front of the shop. David made sure to lock the shop door on the way out, glaring at Ren over his shoulder. “What’s so funny? You they’re your friends too.” “That’s what’s funny.” “You know _you’re_ my friend too.”

“Exactly, and look how lame he is.” Max threw his arm out to gesture at Ren. The guy pressed a finger to his nose and pointed at Max humorously, saying he had gotten it right. Not talking because he had a mouth full of food. Max smirked victoriously, daring David to argue with him now. Ren was grinning amusingly from behind him. Ren turned to lead them to the training ring. David pouted, but followed suit.

Despite the fair being truly and officially closed, there were a lot of people about. A lot of shop keepers and workers like to hold after-parties and celebrate. Most of these ended up being block parties held around the pubs, like Mom and Dad were going to, or people just getting together and having fun. The streets were crowded with people milling about, drinking, and smoking. Ren cut a path for them through the throng, Max on his heels. David followed close behind. Making sure that the kid was in arms reach in case he needed to pick him up. He would have preferred to hold his hand, but he knew the kid wasn’t going to stand for that.

Most of the people walking around were drunk already. Large groups traveling from party to party like bar hoppers. A few of them held up their drinks and said hello as they passed. David and Ren replied amiably. Max for the most part ignored them. Until one group passed and he hesitated, before turning around.

David stopped just before he accidently bowled over the child. “Is something wrong?”

“That’s the fucking jester- I met him.” Max pointed. David looked, and saw one of the more familiar characters walking about. A man on stilts with yellow and black markings.

“Oh, yeah that’s, that’s-?” David snapped his fingers, thinking. He always forgot his name, “I forget. I’ve only met him once or twice. He’s weird, really into riddles.”

“Yeah, tell me about it.” Max grumbled, and they started walking again. Catching up with Ren. “Should he be doing that?” “Doing what?” “Drinking and, I don’t know the term for it, Stilting?”

David snorted and laughed. “Well. I don’t think it’s illegal.” “It ought to be, he’s going to break a leg.” “He’s been doing it for years, I doubt he’s going to fall.” “Yeah, but what if someone kicks a leg out from underneath him?” Max gestured out his explanation theoretically.

David rolled his eyes, though he was smiling. “Max. You can’t go around knocking clowns off their stilts.” “Why not? It would be hilarious!” “Maybe for a second, but when someone gets hurt the fun just turns into trouble.” “Oh come on, don’t tell me you’ve never thought of doing it.”

David had _done_ it, actually. Back when he was a bit older than Max. He wasn’t going to encourage the boy though. He ruffled Max’s hair fondly instead and encouraged him to move on.

It wasn’t far to the horse stables. They entered from the fair streets to the back through a choke point and walked around the back of the jousting arena to get to them. It was one of the few permanent structures in the back of the fair. It had a fenced off area for the animals to stretch their legs, and some other accommodations. There were plenty of trailers around, both of the mobile home type and the kind used to transport the four legged-beasts. Pyrrah and Jaune were easy enough to find, off to the side in their usual spot. A dirt patch marked out with small pink cones Nora had found at a dollar store. Both were, as usual, dressed in their gear and practicing.

Jaune gave a loud exclamation as he swung his sword, metal striking on metal as he hit Pyrrah’s shield. She deflected it easily and swung for his center mass. Barley grazing the paint on Jaune’s white armor as he stepped back just in time. It was a constant trading of blows. Some more skillful than others. Pyrrah was holding back on her attacks, but it was a practice spar not an actual fight.

Jaune was still rough around the edges, but David was surprised he had improved so quickly. He had potential for sure. He almost managed to corner Pyrrah at the edge of their practice ring, almost. Pyrrah pushed forward with her shield, knocking Jaune off balance a bit, and with confidence no woman in heels should ever manage, took two steps **up** onto the man’s shield, and vaulted over his head in a blur of maroon and gold. Jaune, unprepared for such a move, fell back right into the dirt, winded. Meanwhile Pyrrah stuck the landing perfectly. Ready for his next attack.

Man. David _really_ was jealous of Jaune sometimes. Pyrrah was amazing.

David didn’t get long to appreciate the view though as Max made a noise in the back of his throat, and David felt him pulling insistently on hem of his pants. David looked down and raised an eyebrow at the kid. Only to find him silently looking at Pyrrah pointedly before looking back at him, eyes wide. What might as well have been Max’s equivalent of jumping up and down pointing like Nikki so often did. A silent. _David! David! Did you see that?!_

David couldn’t help but grin since Max rarely got excited about anything. Meanwhile Max hissed under his breath before Pyrahh or Jaune noticed them. Pulling again on his pants.

“David. You didn’t tell me your friends were _cool_.” “I did, in fact.” “Yeah, but I didn’t believe you.”

David couldn’t help but shake his head. The three of them approached the practice area now that weapons weren’t being swung around. Nora had been standing back to watch.

Ren waved Nora over while Pyrrah helped Jaune up. The red head smiled when she noticed him. David could see the uncertainty in her eyes when they panned down to Max though.

Jaune outright grimaced, rubbing his back side from the fall. He tried to play things casual. “David! And… Max! H-how’s it going?”

“Things are going well great.” David grinned enthusiastically, stopping just short of the pink cones. “We mostly got the store packed up. Dad decided to call it quits though, and headed out to the bar. How are you guys?”

“Ruby and the others already left for the bonfire.” Nora spoke up, pouting, “I wanted go and meet you guys there, but these two work-a-holics wanted to get a few more rounds in.” She hiked a thumb at the couple.

Jaune shrugged. “I said you could go ahead.”

“You do this for _work_?” Max asked in disbelief, “What job?”

Everyone either looked to David uncertainly, or avoided his gaze unsure how to answer.

“They do mock gladiator fights.” David lied smoothly. “Think of all the stuff Nerris does, LARPing? But supper hard core.”

Max looked conflicted. “Okay I know I make fun of Nerris for all that stuff but that’s pretty cool.”

“Yes, but it’s very dangerous.” Pyrrah warned. She rested her spear on the ground and took a drink from her water bottle, turning to Ren. “How was work at the fortune shop? You guys took a while to get here.”

“Daniel.” Was the only explanation Ren offered.

Nora rolled her eyes, “Was he going off about positive emotions again?”

“This time he was talking about feng-shui. And mispronouncing it each time, might I add.”

Pyrrah made a face. Jaune shook his head, “David I really don’t know why you hang out with that dude. I mean he’s nice enough, but there’s something _off_ about him.” 

“Probably because he’s a cultist who murders people.” “ _Max_.” “What? It’s true.” David couldn’t argue with that, but he still gave Max an unhappy look before turning back to his friends. Both of them looking worried and confused.

“Max isn’t a fan of him either.” David explained as an aside; and everyone took Max’s comment as a childish over exaggeration. He made a mental note to explain to Max that certain things stayed _inside_ the family, lest someone actually believe him one day.

“I don’t think any of us are.” Pyrrah admitted, turning to Max and making conversation. “You should have seen him when he first came here. It was awkward.”

“Yeah, I thought he was you, David; and he corrected me. Then somehow we ended up talking about personal happiness?” Jaune scratched the back of his head, “It was kind of unsettling.”

“He’s such a different personality from David. David’s all quiet but then does something really cool. While Daniel’s right out there in the open, but you never know exactly what he’s planning.” Nora explained, acting out what she was describing.

“Also you two look _so_ similar. It’s crazy. He’s your cousin, right?” “Yeah. Genetics, right?” “That’s crazy.” “You don’t have to tell me twice.”

“Wait. Daniel’s your cousin?” Max spoke up, looking confused.

David nodded, and lied with a straight face, “Yeah. Of course we are.”

“That’s… wait.” Max put a finger to his lip, confused. David changed the subject before he could remember if or if not David had ever mentioned a blood connection before. The whole family-relation was just a mis-lead so the police wouldn’t find Daniel- but he wasn’t going to explain that too Max in front of others.

A loud boom sounded off in the distance, followed by another. Drums picked up in a pattern, and a chorus of voices rose in the distance as well. Everyone paused to look towards the tree line, as the music picked up.

“They’re lighting the bonfire.” Jaune observed, picking up his weapons.

“Aw, come on, let’s go.” Nora grabbed Ren’s arm and started pulling. Everyone followed the two of them. Nora taking the lead, Ren at her side. Jaune took Pyrrah's hand and they started walking behind them. Max followed them, playing with his lighter for his fire works, and David brought up the end of their little party. In the distance drums kicked up and smoke from a large fire started to raise up into the sky. An event that personally marked the end of Summer for David. 

David watched the smoke for a bit as he walked, but then trailed his eyes back down to the kid walking in front of him. It kind of felt surreal that Max was still there. Not like David had expected all of the kids he met each summer to just disappear once the season ended... It just felt weird having one here. Like a fever dream... or a hallucination. 

Or it could have been the lack of sleep talking. David stopped in his steps, eyes narrowing. Yup. Lack of sleep was starting to catch up to him.

"Max, you're going to need this." David reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.

He didn't give the kid much of a choice. practically dropping it into his hands. "What? why?"

"Nothing, just in case we get separated." He ruffled Max's hair and walked past him. He didn't think he'd pass out but he'd been wrong before. 

"Come on, let's go pop some fire works. Have you ever put those things in empty beer bottles? Cause if not you've definitely been using those things wrong."

"Why would I put them in empty beer bottles?" "Cause they explode like grenades. It's really cool. come on, i'll show you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trying to keep up with the monthly updates dudes. This chapter took a while to write, the ending just did not want to work out for some reason. Thanks for all your patience.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max and David have some bonding time, but also some set up for plot.

# Ch 15

“Why would I put them in empty beer bottles?” Max squinted in confusion. Referring to the fireworks he had filled his pockets with before leaving the Carpenter Shop. David certainly had weird ideas when he was sleep deprived.

“Cause they explode, like grenades.” David made an exploding gesture with his hands. “It’s really cool. Come on, I’ll show you.”

Okay weird, but apparently really _awesome_ ideas. Max could get behind exploding things. David should sleep less if it made him more open to doing dangerous stuff. Max jogged a bit to catch up with the guy, who was now talking with Jaune and Pyrrah ahead of them. It sounded like boring adult stuff so Max didn’t join in. taking in their surrounding instead.

Apparently they weren’t too far from the aforementioned bonfire, located in a huge clearing near where people would camp out to go to the fair. It was a pretty big blaze, much bigger than the one David had set up for the camp. Sadly it was less explosive though. No one had apparently doused this wood in gasoline. _Lame_.

There were stone benches sparsely dotting the clearing for the fire in a circular fashion. Though a lot of people seemed to have brought out lawn chairs, coolers and other things to sit on. There were a **lot** of people. The whole place was packed. The air filled with the sounds of people talking, smoking and laughing, as everyone sat around in small groups to hang out and watch the fire burn. All the while a group of musicians played music which mostly consisted of heavy drums and woodwind instruments. There was a crowd of people dancing around the fire, a large collection of shirtless men and scantily dressed woman. As well as a conga line of people dancing through the huge crowd as well, skirting groups, twisting like a snake.

Max heard the party before they even cleared the tree line, and hesitated upon seeing the crowd. Knowing from experience that large groups of adults and his shorter stature didn’t mix well. His hesitation nearly got him separated from the others. David’s arm shot out of nowhere though, and pulled him back to their group.

Max protested the second his feet left the ground, but in a flurry of events that was over before he even knew it, Max found himself balanced on Nora’s shoulders as they walked through the large crowd. The red head giving out an exited shout about going on an adventure while raising her fist into the air. Max clung on tightly, probably looking very much like a startled cat. David laughing after them and telling him to have fun. Max went to flick him off, but David was lost in the crowd before he could manage it.

There were a lot of people here. More than Max had thought would be interested in hanging around after some stupid fair was over. He hadn’t seen a crowd this big since, since well… since _India_. Looking over the people while on Nora’s shoulders only made the crowd seem larger. Since he could see it extending off into the distance where the fire light faded into the trees. Had this many people _really_ been here at the fair? Holy hell it didn’t feel like it.

Max swallowed nervously, afraid of falling off Nora’s shoulders. Getting lost in a giant maze of people was not going to be a fun time. It didn’t help at all when she told him to ‘hang on and just have fun’ as they joined a line of dancing people. Max wasn’t too happy about leaving the others- though he suspected they’d already been separated from them by that point. Some stranger noticed him as Nora danced passed, and raised up a hand for a high five. Max ignored it, shying away from the hand, and the next few. Though as time passed he became less nervous about clinging onto Nora’s shoulders, and tentatively returned a few.

Nora’s shoulders were pretty broad, and despite her dancing along with the conga line she made sure to keep one hand on his leg to keep him secure. It was becoming clear that the red head wasn’t just going to let him fall off into the crowd of people. Soon he was returning high fives as the conga line twisted and turned through the crowd. Between this, the music and Nora’s infectiously good mood he didn’t stay nervous for too long. This girl was like a giant Nikki with adult levels of strength. What wasn’t there to like? Soon the two of them were having fun running through the party, jumping to the music and following the line of dancers.

They even got to circle the fire a few times, which was supper impressive up close. Being nearly a whole story tall and as hot as the sun. It had his fingers itching. Max had more than a few fireworks on him still, and it was tempting to throw them into the fire- though he held back. Figuring it wouldn’t be fun to attract too much attention and make David decide it was time for him to go home. Besides who knew how long David would have him Standing for if someone got hurt? Max’s sore limbs were a good motivation to keep his explosives to himself.

For now.

The night was still young, and this party was clearly still getting started. More than half the people were still sober by the looks of things. Max couldn’t wait for the adults to get more inebriated and start paying less attention to their surroundings. Oh the fun he would have.

Nora and he were making their way around the fire for maybe the third time when Nora tapped her palm repeatedly on his leg to get his attention. Max leaned over and she pointed out into the crowd, having to practically yell over the group of drummers and guitar players they were passing, but managing to do so easily.

“Do you see that golf cart with the red top?!” she asked, pointing out across the crowd. Max followed her hand, and did indeed noticed the vehicle. Someone had driven a cart into the edge of the field and set up chairs around it. It wasn’t the only golf cart around, but it certainly was the closest to the fire itself. Maybe someone had driven it in before everyone showed up?

“Yeah, what about it?” “That’s where the others are!” Nora shouted at him, and started to pull away from the line of dancers they had been in, “Come on! I could use a drink!” They made their way through the crowd. Bouncing around groups and nearly knocking a few people over. People called out to them, either pissed at Nora’s improvised use of water coolers as stepping stones, or recognizing them from passing through earlier. Max flicked them the bird as they went, laughing as Nora left them in the dust. This was turning out to be a lot of fun.

When they approached the golf cart Max wasn’t surprised to see most of the weirdoes from the other night were here, plus a few more. Ruby, if Max remembered correctly, was the one in the red hood, but that was all he remembered. Beside Jaune’s little click, of course.

“Nora! Was up!?” A blonde waved her over from the back of the golf cart. The guy didn’t have a shirt on and was super sculpted. Max had never seen someone with an _actual_ six pack before. It was almost surreal. He closed a cooler and hopped down from the back of the vehicle to stand beside them. Giving Nora a bottle of soda. “Who’s the tike?”

“This is Max.” Nora picked him up off her shoulders and put him on the seat of the cart. Before taking the bottle. “He’s David’s.”

“Is that so?” The blonde looked down at him, and grinned enthusiastically. Raising a fist for a bump. “Nice to meet you man. I’m Sun.”

Max raised his own fist to reply to Sun’s. The blonde pulled it up at the last second. “Up. Too short.”

“I will cut your height off at your knees.” Max threatened, unamused.

The blonde laughed, and ruffle his hair.

“Yup. He’s David’s alright.” Max swatted the guy’s hands away. Sun got the message and backed off. He opened the drink in his hand. Then indicated to the back of the golf cart. “There are water bottles in the cooler if you get thirsty. But don’t touch any of the glass bottles. They’re not for someone your age. Okay Max?”

Max’s lowered his gaze to the bottle in Sun’s hand, and realized that it wasn’t a soda, but a beer. The one in Nora’s hand was the same brand.

Max opened and closed his mouth before finding his voice. Replying with the most eloquent response devised by man. “Oh.”

Sun threw his head back and laughed. “I like this kid.” He tried to reach out and ruffle Max’s hair again. Max shooed the blonde off with a wave of his arms. Glaring. Sun only seemed amused by this fact. Thankfully Nora had his back. Swatting the blonde on the arm, and shooing him off.

“Max!” David’s annoying voice rose up as he broke away from the group of chairs. He picked up a grocery bag and walked up as Nora and Sun departed. “There you are. Did you and Nora have fun?”

Max shot him a heated look as he approached the golf cart. “You left me with a stranger.” He accused.

“Aww you did have fun.” David grinned. He set down a half-full bottle onto the golf cart dash, and opened his bag. Showing more bottles of the same kind from the bag in his hand, though these were empty. They were all the same brand of beer, the kind Sun and Nora had been drinking.

“I have acquired us some materials to work with.”

“You didn’t drink all of these, did you?” Max eyed the alcohol with skepticism. His parents had never really been drinkers- thank god. From the stories he’d over heard at camp he’d gotten off lucky in that regards. He never would have pegged David for a drinker, honestly. So it was weird to see him actually around the stuff. Max told himself it didn’t bug him that much. He just hoped the guy didn’t end up throwing up or anything like you’d see in the movies.

“No. I got them from the others.” David assured. He closed up the bag, and raised a pointed finger into the air enthusiastically. “Come on, let’s go pop some fireworks!”

Only David could make exploding things sound lame. It must be a special talent. Max rolled his eyes, but followed David away from the cart. They walked through the crowds towards the tree line. There were less people here, probably a good thing if broken glass was going to be a factor.

“I’m kind of surprised you’re suggesting this.” Max admitted, watching as David lined up the empty bottles for use on the ground. He indicated for some explosives and Max fished them out of his jacket pocket. “Isn’t exploding glass like, dangerous?”

“Playing with fireworks in general is dangerous.” David counter argued, Max couldn’t exactly disagree. David picked up his beer and considered something. “But do be careful. My cousins and I were doing this when we were about your age, and Ryan held onto the bottle for too long. Not pretty.” David took a drink from his beer and set it aside so it wouldn’t get mixed up with the empty ones.

“Alright so essentially what you do is put the fireworks into the bottle and chunk it at the tree.” David indicated to their mark a few meters away.

“Okay?” Max asked, watching David put one of the fireworks into the bottle neck. He lit it with the lighter, dropping the M1000 into the bottle. It hissed, and with a rapid violent motion David chunked the thing over his shoulder. The bottle sailed through the air and exploded right before it hit the tree. Glass shattered and smoke trapped in the bottle from the firework circled around the tree like a solid ball of smoke had hit it.

“Holy Shit!” Max said in honest surprise. That looked cool as fuck.

“I know right? Kind of like a molotov or something.” David prepared another firework and bottle, but this time handed it to Max, unlit.

“So you want to throw it like a knife. Over your shoulder like this.” David showed him the motion before standing up. Max fumbled with the set up while David watched, drinking his beer.

It was hard to keep the fire work from falling into the bottle while still trying to light it. David had made it look easy, but it took some coordination Max as a kid just didn’t have. He fumbled, and the fuse caught fire. Surprising him. Max dropped the bottle clumsily. It landed at his feet with the explosive rattling around in the bottle.

Max flinched, covering his face. Expecting the whole thing to blow up there at his feet. David moved in at the last second though; and kicked the whole apparatus. The glass bottle sailed away and popped in the distance. The glass didn’t explode, but the neck of the bottle broke, smoke pouring out of the now-black bottle.

“That was a close one.” David’s voice was casual and half-amused. Like Max’s last attempt hadn’t just nearly sent him to the hospital. Max expected David to say something about saving his life but the red head didn’t seem to think anything of it. Bending down to get another bottle, “Not bad for your first try though. Let’s go again. I’ll light the firework so you can throw the bottle. How does that sound?”

“You know, now that I think about it… I don’t know if I can throw the bottle hard enough that it will break. To be honest.” Max, for obvious reasons, didn’t think this was such a great idea anymore. He’s screwed up already. Better to stop before someone actually got hurt.

“Nah, it’s fine. You’ve just got to throw it right. Physics will do the rest.”

David encouraged, and demonstrated the motion again with an empty bottle. Gripping it by the neck and pulling it over his shoulder. David threw just a bottle and it rotated twice before hitting the tree and cracking into three large chunks. “See, it’s super easy. Haven’t you ever just thrown bottles at stuff before?” David asked, sounding somewhat surprised.

“No. What the hell kind child hood did you have?” “I grew up on a Ranch in Texas. You just find stuff to do.” “Like throwing bottles at random shit?” “Kinda. We weren’t allowed to fight the chickens.”

David bent down and handed him an empty bottle, “Here, try again. Just the bottle. Here, give it a try.”

Max took the bottle uncertainly, and turned it over in his hands. David instructed him how to hold the bottle, calm and with a cheerful tone. Just like it was another lame ass Camp activity. When Max had a good understanding, he threw just the bottle.

It turned over once, but soared father than Max would have expected. It hit the base of the tree and bounced off intact. He tried again once, and then twice. The third bottle he threw broke against the tree. Green glass catching the light of the bonfire behind them as it did so.

Max raised his arms in victory, and looked up at David, smiling. David grinned and patted his mop of hair fondly.

“Good, now we do same with explosives.” David laughed humorously, crouching down and fetching more bottles from the plastic bag. “We’ll have you becoming a full on anarchist in no time.”

David helped Max light the firework this time, Max holding the bottle and firework as David lit it for him. This time he took his time to aim properly, and it worked out just like David’s first one had. Glass breaking and a cloud of smoke hitting the tree.

“That looks so cool.” Max couldn’t help but bounce up and down a little in excitement. His inner pyromaniac giddy with excitement. “Why does the smoke do that, you think?” He asked, preparing another bottle.

“It’s because the firework alone doesn’t actually have the power to break the bottle.” David explained, helping him again with the lighting part. Max didn’t have good enough coordination to do both. “So it just holds in the smoke and when the bottle breaks against the tree it looks cool.”

Max fiddled with the firework in his hand, not lighting it just yet. “… how many fireworks do you think we could shove in one bottle? Do you think it would explode then?”

David looked down at the empty bottle in his hand skeptically. “… I’m betting we could fit four.”

The two of them spent the next twenty or so minutes just dicking around with the fireworks and having fun. David was pretty chill to hang out with like this. Not nearly as high strung as he usually was when it came to leading camp activities. Probably because he didn’t have ten other kids to keep track of. Or it was the beer. David was finishing up his second bottle, and Max was carefully kicking all of the broken glass together so he could put a firework right in the middle of it all, when a gruff voice made them both look up.

“Hey!” The voice was directed at them, which was why they looked up. A few people from the bonfire had walked by and seen what they were doing; but no one had really paid them any mind. Max feared for a second they were in trouble. He put his lighter back into his pocket and looked up at David, wondering if they were going to run or something.

David didn’t look worried or nervous though. If anything he looked unhappy. Rolling his eyes and getting up. 

“You know this guy?” Max asked, surprised.

“Unfortunately.” David grumbled under his breath, “Stay here.”

Max watched uncertainly as David went to intercept the stranger. Who was unstable on his feet, probably drunk. He had black hair and a white shirt on. There was something weird hanging off his back, but Max couldn’t quite make out what.  The bonfire was behind him, providing enough light to see by, but not much more.

“Yeah, I’m talking to you. _Cut Throat_.” The stranger said the last two words like they were some kind of insult. David stopped him, holding out a hand to keep the man from advancing any closer to the mess of broken glass they had been piling up. probably for his own saftey.

“Qrow. I’m right here.” He said unamused.

This Qrow guy blinked, and took a step back. As if he was only just realizing David had walked over to him. “So you are.”

“What the fuck do you want?” David asked, resting his hands on his hips.

“Cursing already?” Qrow seemed amused. “Someone must be cranky. Are you not sleeping again?”

“Did you actually want to say something, or did you just come here to insult me?” David sounded like he was actually getting pissed now. Which was something happening more often as Max got to know him outside of Camp. Just earlier this evening Max had seen David go off on his Dad like a moody teenager. Nothing David would never _ever_ do in front of the campers. Max wondered though if it was just specific people that brought this side of David about; or if it was really because he was sleep deprived.

Qrow for his part seemed to be steadying himself somewhat in response to David’s change of tone. The two of them squared off, and for a minute Max thought they were actually going to fight. But neither of them took the first swing. Qrow was resting his hand on the handle of the item on his back. Now that he was closer Max could make out what it was; a sword. A huge, intimidating looking thing. Like the kind game characters swung around. Probably not the most realistic weapon ever, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t still have done some damage. Qrow adjusted his hand on it and looked like he was seriously thinking of swinging at David. Who was crossing his arms and practically daring him too, like Qrow had done this before and David was just fed up with his shit.

Holy crap this guy had to be crazy or something. Max looked between them fearfully. Qrow was the first to break the silence. Taking his hand off of his weapon when it was clear David wasn’t going to be hostile if Qrow wasn’t.

“Who’s the kid?” “What kid.” “ _That_ kid.”

Qrow jerked his head towards Max without looking at him. David glanced back towards Max briefly. He looked like he didn’t want to answer, but Qrow didn’t look like he was going to leave without an answer. “That’s Max.” David said reluctantly.

“Max.” Qrow said the name like he was committing it to memory. He pulled out a flask from his pocket and unscrewed the cap.

“So.” Qrow took a drink from his flask, sizing David up. “You left Campbell. For a brat.”

“I didn’t leave Campbell.” David’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Where did you hear that?”

Qrow didn’t answer David’s question directly. “That’s not what the rumors are saying.”

David shifted his weight unhappily. “What rumors.”

“The rumors that your contracts up for bid.” Qrow tilted his head to the side, not in the creepy way Daniel tended to do, more like a bird might have. “That Campbell fired your ass cause you outed him to the FBI.”

“That’s not what happened.” David crossed his arms.

Qrow didn’t want to hear any explanation. “Well that’s what people _think_ happened.” The way he said it, the words sounded like a mixture of a warning and a threat.

Qrow looked down at his flask, and put a cap onto it. “And enough people are thinking it, that Atlas is wondering if they could afford you.”

“Like I’d ever work for fucking Atlas.” David sneered like the mere idea made him sick.

“That’s what Ozpin told Ironwood.” Qrow agreed, pointing a finger at David with the hand holding his flask. He nearly lost his balance but steadied himself. “But they’re probably going to send someone anyway. Sooner rather than later.”

“What, like they’re going to send people to kidnap David and force him to work for them?” Max asked skeptically. He wondered what they would even have David do? Run around in a giant hamster wheel?

Both David and Qrow turned to look at Max, as if they were surprised he was joining in the conversation. David held up his hands in a placating way. Qrow shrugged.

“No. Nothing like that.” “Maybe.”

They both spoke at the same time, then looked at each other. David with furrowed brows and a scowl. Qrow raising and eyebrow and unscrewing the cap on his flask.

He gave David a sideways look as he drank. “Make that a certainty.”

“Qrow.” David rolled his eyes.

“Hey, every time you say something’s _not_ gonna happen, _it_ happens.” Qrow accused him.

“I’m being optimistic.” David argued.

“You’re a bad luck charm is what you are.”

“ _I’m_ the bad luck charm?” David scoffed. “You’re one to talk _Cockatiel_.”

“Yeah well at least I own up to it. Rather than denying everything.” Qrow raised his hands and his voice’s pitch. “Oh that? It’s nothing; nothing a normal human couldn’t do anyway. I’ll just go bench press some fucking rocks like it’s no big deal.”

“We’ve been over this. Your workout routine is just shit.” “Is not.” “Is too.”

Qrow realized the conversation was getting nowhere and dropped the argument. “fine, if I ever need to bench press small trees I’ll sign up for your fucking weight camp.”

David seemed satisfied with this, and backed off. “Anything else I should know about?”

“No, nothing you don’t need to be concerned with.” Qrow huffed, “Ozpin just wanted me to give you a heads up. Good faith and all that.”

Qrow made a circular motion with his hand. “Oh, yeah, and all the usual stuff to. If you ever want to work someplace else and what not.”

David looked up like they’d had this conversation to many times. “I’m not going to work for Vale either. I’m,-”

“A Campbell. Yeah, we all know that.” Qrow glanced down to David’s yellow neck tie before going to take another drink from his flask.

“What’s Vale?” Max interjected curiously.

David glanced down at him, and it looked for a second like he was just going to tell him it was nothing, but decided to fill him in.

“Vale is a shadow organization that Qrow works for.” David explained. It didn’t look like he wanted to, but knew Max wouldn’t appreciated being left out of the loop. “Run by a man named Ozpin. Ozpin used to be part of Blue Team. The same mercenary group my parents worked for. They have their hands in a whole bunch of different things. Qrow here mostly works intelligence.”

"You blues and your networking." Qrow scoffed.

David didn't appreciate his tone. "Blue Team thrived off knowing who had the power and resources, and acting accordingly. It's what made us- them, more than just hired guns."

"Yeah, and look where it got you. Blue Team's been disbanded for years,. At least Red Team's still a thing." Qrow pointed to himself proudly. David didn't seem to want to reply to this. Looking away from Qrow unhappily. Max felt like there was a whole story he was missing here. Qrow continued. "It's cause you Blues always stick your nose into things you shouldnt be."

Qrow pulled out a small case from his pocket and flicked out a business card to Max with a practiced motion. On it was a glossy crow emblem with a number beneath it. On the back there was a green clock tower building with gears where the actual clock face was supposed to be.

“Give me a call if you ever think Davey here’s getting in over his head.”

“I know how to do my job, Qrow.” David protested, but didn’t stop Max from taking the card.

“Yeah, but do you know how to do your job and deal with a-” Qrow gestured over Max, “How old are you? Seven? Eight?”

“I’m ten.” Max informed him.

“Right, and David’s what, babysitting you?” Qrow turned to David, raising an eyebrow.

“Uhhhh.” Max had to actually think of a response for that. He looked to David, “We’re kind of calling it surprise adoption?”

Crow's expression was in-desipherable. Not because it was serious or controlled. Max litterally didn't know what to make of his face. He looked like Nikki when she was hidding something in her mouth from Gwen. But that cpuldnt have been it.

The dude was apparently holding back laughter, as it turned out. “Adoption?!" Qrow wheexed when he couldn't keep it in anymore. Slapping David's shoulder and laughing. "Who-who the fuck let that go through?” Qrow was laughing like this was the funniest thing he had heard in a while. “You’re the least qualified person I know to take care of a kid.”

David disagreed. “I look after kids all the time.”

“Yeah, in a shitty summer camp for what, a month? Two? You’re a glorified nannie.”

“That’s what I tell him all the time.” Max agreed.

David looked put off to be ganged up on. “You’re the one who wanted me to adopt you.” He pointed out to Max.

“No, I stole your identity and planned to run away.” Max reminded him, “You’re the one who decided to sign the papers and put up with me.”

“Oh shit, really?” Qrow choked out a laugh. David didn’t look as amused.

“I like you kid. Up Top.” Qrow held out a hand for a high-five. Max glared at it, keeping his hands in his pocket. Qrow ruffled his hair instead. Max protested of course.

“Right, well, I’m out before Ruby notices I’m here.” Qrow looked over his shoulder towards the party. Talking behind a hand. “Don’t get me wrong, I love my niece but I don’t come to a party like this just so see her.”

“Why, cause you can’t pick up chicks?” David teased.

“No. She doesn’t let me drink as much as I want too.” Qrow shook his flask pointedly, and walked away. Throwing a hand over his shoulder as a farewell.

Max watched him go, then looked up to David, who was still watching.

“So what’s Atlas?”

David raised and eyebrow and looked down at Max. “You keep asking questions like that, and you’ll get tangled up in all this more than you want too.”

“I think I deserve to know what you’re getting into,” Max pointed out, “Especially if shady ass drunks are going to do spur of the moment business meetings without warning. _Armed_ mind you. with a _sword_.”

“Yeah I guess so.” David sighed, and took a drink of his beer. He sat back down in the grass like he had been earlier as they popped fireworks. So he could be more on level with Max.

“Atlas is probably one of Campebell’s biggest competitors.” David explained, “In certain areas of the market anyway. They don’t do nearly as much as we do.”

“And they want to hire you?” Max asked.

“Given the chance,” David inhaled and paused, thinking of how to word things, “they would probably want me as an asset.”

“Why? What do you do that’s even worth it?” Max asked skeptically.

He really couldn’t see it. David wasn’t any different from other adults. Well, besides the obvious. Sure he was super positive and- as much as Max would like to admit it- good with kids. But what did David really do? Manage a financially sinking camp. Poorly, one might add. Gwen was the more competent of the two of them when it came to dealing with issues. Though David was less prone to panic attacks.

“Damage control, mostly. Area management.” David kept it vague. Max narrowed his eyes at him unhappily. David pretended not to notice, but gave in when Max persisted.

“Max I don’t really know if you’d want me to go into more detail than that.” David caved, scratching the back of his neck, “You haven’t really reacted positively to anything else of this nature so far.”

“Exactly. Tell me so I can judge you accordingly.” Max snidded.

“Do you really want me to tell you though?” David asked, giving him one last chance to back out.

He looked really unsure, the most unsure Max had probably seen him since they’d left the camp. It made Max think about everything he had learned about David over the last three days. Christ it had only been _three_ days? And David had adopted a serial killer as a brother, was cool with said serial killer killing people, and probably had serial killer parents. Max’s eye twitched.

“You know what? That’s a fair point.” Max acquisitioned, “But this conversation isn’t over. Okay?” He jabbed David with a pointed finger.

“I’ll save it for when you’re older.” David agreed, he stood up, “Come on, let’s go hang out with the others for a bit. I need another beer anyway.”

“Not so much older that I’m left in the dark when this mission impossible stuff starts happening.” Max followed after him, “the last thing I need is to get caught up in your horror-action drama without any clue as to what the fuck is going on.” Max insisted, “He had a sword David a sword. I don’t do Anime, okay? I’m not going to put up with that shit.”

David looked down at him, and looked back up to where they were walking, a fond smile on his face. "Okay Max, that sounds reasonable. No anime fights.” He promised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reviews are always appreciated.


	16. chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> David finally gets some much needed sleep, Max does too. Fluff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be part of Chapter 15 but i didn't have it finished.

# Ch 16

After their encounter with David’s work buddy named Qrow; David and Max stopped popping fireworks and returned to the golf cart where all of David’s friends were hanging out. Despite what he had seen in all of the TV drama’s he had seen, none of David’s friends seemed to mind hanging out with a ten year old. No one called him lame or called him annoying, some of them even laughed when he made a pessimistic joke or two. They sat down, drank beers, and chatted with each other happily. Telling funny stories about stuff that had happened over the summer or talking about school.

It was really boring, actually. Max had always imagined adult parties being… well more than just people hanging out. But besides all the people dancing over by the fire, that was what everyone was doing for the most part. Even groups outside their own.

It was hard to keep track of everyone. There were a lot of new faces to put names too. The only ones he knew for certain were Jaune, Pyrrah, Nora and Ren. Ruby stood out of course, she was a spaz and more than a little awkward each time she spoke. Weiss and Blake didn’t pay him much mind, but judging by their tone the few times they did speak up he didn’t think he would get along with them much. Max thought Yang was pretty cool. She wasn’t afraid to crack bad jokes, which he respected. But more than that she had a really cool attitude that would even outclass Erid. Everyone else just kind of blurred into the background.

Max never would have thought David would have so many friends in all honesty. Apparently they’d all gone to school together, though that didn’t make much sense to him. If he had to guess David seemed to be older than most of them by a few years. Though he could have been wrong, he wasn’t so good at judging ages.

The first few minutes of exchanging banter and stories was pretty cool. Though it got boring super quick. Max kicked his feet restlessly, watching the bonfire burn in the distance.

David seemed to take notice as Sun went on about some crazy guy Neptune and he had to deal with last week. The two of them worked security at the fair, from what he could tell.

“Bored?” David asked quietly.

“Kinda.” Max admitted. He wanted to go cause some trouble. That familiar itch was crawling under his skin. But he didn’t want to get in trouble and have to spend another day holding pieces of wood over his head.

David appraised him for a moment, and then nodded towards the crowd of the party beyond their circle of lawn chairs. “Go have some fun.”

“What?” Max

“Go.” David repeated, taking a drink from his beer nonchalantly. “If this is boring you I’m not going to hold you here against your will. Just don’t get caught. Dad will not be happy if he has to bail us out this late at night.”

Max stared at David for a full minute, mouth open. David raised an eyebrow, and made a shooing motion.

“You already have my permission. What are you waiting for?”

Max closed his mouth and hurriedly got out of his chair. He looked back at David once, to make sure he wasn’t going to go back on his decision, before running off. David was willingly unleashing him up on the poor suspecting victims of the party? Well, he wasn’t going to doubt his sleep-deprived-probably-drunk logic.

Max couldn’t help a giddy grin spread across his face as he left the golf cart behind and started to explore the field of people open to him. Plans forming in his mind. Nothing explosive. Yet. He didn’t want his hapless victims running in fear when he had the whole evening to do shit.

The party crowd was so big. No one noticed or paid attention to some kid walking by. Not unless he lingered for long at least. Groups sat around in circles of chairs, coolers, or blankets. Just like David’s friends had been doing. There were still a lot of people dancing by the fire, or listening to the music band like they were at some live concert, though the fire was still the main focus of the party.

Max’s first mark was a group of early teens. Much younger than a good portion of the rest of the party. Probably too young to be here in all honesty. Though he wasn’t one to talk, and it wasn’t like there was a bouncer or anything.

They were all smashed drunk, pretty badly so. They thought they were so cool with their beers, crop tops and overly applied makeup. They were so busy taking selfies they never noticed Max just walking by their chairs and picking up a purse right out from under their selfie stick. He didn’t hold on to it for long. Pulling out the vast majority of their contents and adding them into his jacket pocket before shoving the bags under a lawn chair of a nearby group.

He kept walking, keeping his eyes peeled. A bag here, a wallet or keychain there. He focused on the drunker groups, where a lot of people were moving around and distracting each other. Not bothering with the emptier ones that had two or three sober people actually looking out for people's stuff. If Nikki had been there he could have used her as a distraction, while Neil and he grabbed the loot, but sadly his friends weren’t here.

Shame, they would have enjoyed the fire. As huge as it was, it was still burning bright even an hour and a half after it being lit. The small dinky ones David lit for cooking s’mores or telling ghost stories never lasted this long, or looked nearly as cool. Max stopped to admire it a few times, though the constantly moving crowd never let him do it for as long as he wanted to. There wasn’t a lot of safe standing room for a kid the same height as most people’s knees in a huge party like this.

There wasn’t a way to get close to the fire either. People were still dancing around the fire. Territory Max knew he wouldn’t be able to cross on his own, less he wanted to get trampled. He turned a firework over in his hand, but kept moving on. He didn’t give up though. He was determined to throw some explosives into the fire before the end of the night. He just needed to keep an eye open for an opportunity, or think of something clever.

Max kept stealing things, but circled back to the gang's spot occasionally to empty his pockets. Hiding most of the loot in the grocery bag David had been keeping their bottles in earlier. He wedged his prizes behind the cooler so no one would find them.

Once that was filled though, Max figured he had pilfered enough stuff to deem the raid a success. He collected his winnings and sat in the back of the golf cart. Using the side of the bed and the cooler as cover so others wouldn't realize what he was doing.

Not that anyone asked. Nora had started up a pushup competition. Jaune and Neptune were struggling to keep up, Sun was cracking jokes while effortlessly going through the exercises. Though if he was going to put money on a winner it would have been Yang, who was matching his pace.

Most of what Max had managed to get was receipts and trash. He shoved those off to the side. The wallets were better hauls. Most if not all of them had cash leftover from the fair, in which most shops preferred money to cards. One of them even had a straight up 50 in it. He added all of the bills together and came up with almost 200 bucks. There was small change of course. He condensed all of the coins into the least offensive coin purse he had snatched to count later.

The bulk of his prizes he stacked up like playing cards in some twisted version of solitaire. Credit cards. Drivers license. School ID cards. A lot of people at the party were college students, not surprisingly. The piece de' resistance though was the wallet of one Jack Patillo.

Credit card. Drivers license. _And_ a social security card.

Max couldn’t help but grin, knowing exactly how much of this man's life was here in his hands. He'd already stolen David's identity, what was one or two more? Max really wanted to see what all he could do with these cards too. He'd have to call up Neil and ask him about figuring out pin numbers. Max wrapped all of his prizes up into one large wallet he had stolen, and secured it into his hoodie pocket.

Last were the car keys he had managed to snag. Ten or twenty key chains that he stuffed into the largest bag-like coin purse Max had managed to collect. Unfortunately it was pink, but he could live with the color if it helped keep them from jangling all over the place. He wasn’t quite sure what he was going to do with these just yet, but something would come to him.

Once everything was sorted he put all of the trash into the grocery bag, and buried it at the bottom of the trash bag someone had tied to the back of the grocery bag, over filled now with bottles and some snack wrappers.

Stealing adventures over with, Max set out to achieve his goal of throwing explosives into the fire. He had a whole box of them left, and it certainly seemed like a good use for them. He jumped out of the bed of the golf cart and walked back over to the group, where Sun and Nora were the last two people in the running for the pushup competition. Neptune had tapped out, and Jaune had managed to fall over and trip up Yang, who was declaring sabotage while giving him a painful looking noogie.

Damnit. Okay, his plan to ask Nora to go dancing again wasn’t going to happen if she was in the middle of something. He had been thinking he could throw his fireworks into the flames if they passed by the bonfire like from earlier.

He looked around the group, skimming over all the people he had met, but he wasn’t quite sure if any of the other adults would be so easily tricked into getting him so close to the fire. His attention landed on David last, who unlike all the others was still sitting in his seat rather than cheering on or filming the pushup competition.

He was leaning back in his chair, arms crossed and head kind of down. His eyes were closed too, but he was breathing steadily. Max walked over and tilted his head to the side, watching him for a minute. He reached out a hand and shook his knee gently. “David?”

David tensed and his eyes blinked open, immediately darting down to Max. He sat up straighter and rubbed at the bags underneath one of his eyes. “Oh, you’re back already? I didn’t hear any screaming yet.”

“Did you fall asleep?” Max asked, and was a bit concerned. Recalling how exhausted David must be. He’d stayed up all day yesterday, and then today. Working in the shop for both days, and even putting up with him. Maybe now that things were slowing down it was all catching up. Just like it did with Neil when his mastermind of a friend stayed up trying to solve physics equations.

“No, I was just resting my eyes.” David stifled a yawn.

Max didn’t believe him for a second. “Maybe we should head back.” He suggested in concern.

“No I’m fine. Go have fun. You’ve still got havoc to wreak, right?”

This was true. Max was nowhere near tired, having taken a nap on the couch after being freed from David’s Father. As much as he would love to go and cause a whole lot of trouble though… even more he didn’t want to have to be dealing with an unconscious David. David’s friends were nice and all, but Max wouldn’t trust any of them to be able to help him _responsibly_ \- none of them were actual adults by his standards. Which probably ment he’d have to call David’s parents… or Daniel. In which case it was a good thing Max had David’s phone, but still.

Max considered this, and made his decision, resting his hands in his jacket pockets. “I think we should go home.”

“You sure?” David rubbed his eyes, surprised.

Max shrugged indifferently. He could easily find another use for his fireworks. “Yeah. Whatever.”

“Okay then.” David stood up, and the two of them gathered up their things to leave. David throwing away his share of the bottles and mess around their little circle, and both of them grabbing a water bottle for the walk back. David’s friends weren’t too happy to see him go. Ruby almost cried, the over dramatic spaz. Everyone seemed to understand that David was tired though, and gave their goodbyes.

They all said goodbye to him as well, which confused him a bit. They’d only known him for a grand total of two or three hours. Why were they acting like they were all best friends or whatever now? Max would never understand people.

Sun tried to get him to bump fists again, but once again jerked it up at the last second, making a short joke. Everyone laughed at that. In retaliation Max kicked Sun’s knee, causing the blonde to yelp in surprise. Everyone laughed at him instead, which made Max smirk in victory.

The rest of their departure and walk back to the Carpentry Shop was uneventful. Once again they were walking back through the darker streets and woods around the back of the fair. Max was starting to think David had little to no fear of the dark, seeing as how he never hesitated to take these routes. Which was fine, so long as the camp man knew where they were going. Max stuck close to him though, eyeing the shadows suspiciously. It was a long walk back to carpentry shop. They passed parties and groups of people walking as they went, but the fair was a lot less crowded than it had been on their way too the bonfire. Probably because most everyone was there.

They got to the carpentry shop without incident. David had to set his water bottle on the ground to fetch out his keys. Holding back a yawn as he did so.

“You know, I had a pretty good time.” Max spoke retrospectively, “We should do this more often.”

“What? Irresponsibly drag you to parties you’re probably too young to go too?” David asked sarcastically.

“Yes.” Max responded

David chuckled amused, finding the key and unlocking the door. He led the way into the living room, pausing just inside as he did so to look around.

 

“What? Are we expecting an assassin or something?” Max asked, walking around him to look at the room himself. Nothing seemed different.

“It’s nothing, I guess Daniel’s already gone to sleep.” David dismissed the issue. “Right. Pajamas, Teeth, and then Bed.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know the drill.” Max huffed. He gathered his stuff from his hiking pack and went upstairs to the restroom. David joining him. They brush their teeth and took turns changing and using the restroom. The house was quiet and dark. But not in an uncomfortable way. Max remembered all of the cold, silent nights he had spent at his parent’s house. This house didn’t feel like that at all. The cramped quarters of having so many people live in proximity made it feel warmer and actually lived in. Though the shadows felt deeper, darker. There was a literal boogie man living up in the attic after all. Max gave the ladder up to Daniel’s loft a wide birth, and stayed close to David without being too obvious. He guessed you had to make compromises somewhere.

Max had slept downstairs on the couch with David last night. Having fallen asleep watching movies. With David actually planning on getting some sleep tonight, Max had to sleep upstairs in the work room again. Max didn’t like it up here. He couldn’t put his finger on why, but something about this room put him on edge. Maybe it was the boxes lining the walls, Green and Ren had packed up for the move tomorrow. Or the way the plants cast creeping shadows onto the walls. Or the lingering unease he still had about Daniel. Maybe it was all of them, he wasn’t sure. He didn’t complain about having to sleep up here though, mostly because he hadn’t realized how much he didn’t like the room until he was already up here.

Max laid down restlessly on the small window-seat bed thing and tried to get comfy. Tried being the cooperative word. He turned this way and that, bundled up in the sheets to stay warm, but found it too hot so he ended up tossing them off. How had he slept in this bed last time? Oh, right. He hadn't. He'd been too paranoid too.

Max huffed a bit frustrated, and stared at the ceiling. Wondering if this was what David went through every time he tried to go to sleep. Insomnia better not be contagious- or he’d put him to sleep permanently.

Max knew that wasn't the case though. He was just restless, and sleeping all alone up here in this weird work room wasn't all that appealing. Max eyed the multitude of shadows cast by the boxes, and the creeping like tendrils shapes they formed in the half-light provided by the single window.

Max wouldn't say it was scary- he wasn’t a wimp. The whole place just felt a little unsettling with the lights off. He pulled Mr. Honey Nuts closer regardless- remember not a wimp- and turned his back to the room. Dismissing the shadows and trying again to go to sleep.

Sometime later Max found himself back down stairs in the living room. For completely, totally unrelated reasons.

That poor excuse for a bed upstairs was just way to uncomfortable. That was all. And why sleep up there when the couch down here could perfectly fit two? Not that Max wanted to share the couch with David. The whole thing was just … circumstantial.

That’s the excuse Max told himself anyway. But deep down he knew it was because he had gotten used to sharing a tent with Neil. He wouldn’t label himself as clingy. There was just something about having someone else around that made Max feel safer. He tried not to think about it too much as he made a place for himself at the opposite end of the couch from David, next to the man’s feet. Such trains of thought were for therapists and adults with anxiety. Not him.

David was already dead to the world. Listing off plant names under his breath as he slept. Like counting sheep but more floral. Max wrapped himself in the old camp blanket and got comfy with Mr. Honey Nuts. Already feeling more relaxed and less on edge. He breathed in the heavy sent of pine still lingering on the cloth, and closed his eyes.

It wasn’t long until he nodded off himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So i've been doing some research on fostering kids for this fic. Apparently it's a common thing for younger kids to feel the need to be near people, or they get anxious. Which usually leads to them not wanting to sleep alone in some cases. I thought that might be something Max would have problems with, especially since he's used to sharing a room with Neil, and Nikki. (i head cannon that she 'sleeps over' in their tent often.) 
> 
> This was supposed to be the tail end of Chapter 15, but i wasn't happy with some of the lines so i decided to section them off. i'm also posting this out of the usual monthly schedule because it's short and simple. I hope your bags are packed though: cause moving day starts next chapter!


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You know those scenes you have in your mind that make you want to write a fic? This is the one for this story.

# Ch 17

A rush of sound, like something heavy being dragged through sand, or a car whisking past you on the highway. A flat tarmac stained with blood. Darkness, a single light illuminating and blinding him. More rushing wind. Small round bulbs blinking in patterns- and the sound of a coin machine going off and chips falling from a machine with enthusiasm. A Casino from a warped perspective. Almost as if viewed through a kaleidoscope. A whirl of bright colors- noises, sensations. David’s entire world twisted and turned.

Then, with the velocity of a slammed door, he was deposited into a chair. All of his senses rushed into a singular focus; and David opened his eyes.

He found himself sitting in a room tied to a chair.

Mr. Campbell was bitching a fit beside him.

“Of course they drugged the drinks! It’s always the drink! Can’t enjoy a single shot of scotch without fucking test strips these days.”

The room they were in was bleak compared to the colorful assault David had just received from the rest of his senses. He blinked once, twice, and found himself sitting in a dirty, plain room. His arms tied behind him with zip ties and his torso plastic wrapped to the chair.

Huh. Okay.

“Oh, good you’re awake.” Campbell said once he realized David was awake. The older man was similarly fashioned to his own chair and looking ruffled in a suit. He did not look happy. Though to the being tied down part or the ruffled part, David wasn’t sure.

“This better be part of the plan Davey. Otherwise we’re in trouble and I am not going to forgive you. I've got this god awful taste in my mouth and I need to brush my teeth.” The older man smacked his gums. “Grass? No, something floral?”

“That’s the taste of chloroform.” David was slowly getting his bearings. He had the same familiar taste lingering in his mouth. David looked down at himself. His legs were zip tied to the chair. “We’re dealing with someone who knows their stuff.”

“Bleh.” David couldn’t tell if his boss was replying to either the being drugged or the professional part. Probably the chloroform taste.

How had they gotten here? _Where_ even was here? David looked around for clues but found none. He tested his bonds tentatively. He could certainly break them if need be, but it wouldn’t be a quick escape.

The door to the room they were in opened, and several men in suits walked in. Two body guards, and a man whom David assumed was the boss. He certainly had enough fake gold around his wrists to earn the title. All three of them were Hispanic.

Mr. Campbell started speaking Spanish, and the leader reached out and smacked the mountaineer across the face, nearly knocking the chair over.

“Ow! What was that for?!”

“I know English you stupid American. Your shitty interpretation of my language offends me.”

“Oh, well then can I have a glass of water?” Mr. Campbell asked as if the man hadn’t hit him, “The drugs you snuck us have a really foul after taste.” He smacked his lips again, “Ugh seriously. Doesn’t this come in a better flavor? Davey.” Campbell turned to him, a dry look on his face. “Write that down for later. Flavored knockout drugs, give the classy kidnappers something to differentiate themselves with from the common rabble.”

“Yes sir.” David affirmed without hesitation. He looked between all of his captors. Memorizing their faces and screening their weapons. Armed, but not seriously. No tattoos. Not Cartel. Interesting.

“Enough. If I was a shit business man, I would slit your throats and toss you into the desert so birds could pick out your eyes.” David decided to designate the man in charge as Boss Man, and the other two as Flunkies for now. “Lucky for you I’m a good one- and keep track of people who come to my casino who are worth something.” Boss Man monologued for them.

David, decidedly bored, looked down at his bonds and calculated if or if not he could pull the zip ties free before Flunky Two could draw on him. There was a slim chance. Physical force wasn’t the best option here then. They’d have to talk their way out.

“I hear you're worth quite a lot as well.” Campbell leaned back in his chair, confident despite the restraints, “This underground casino must pull in a lot of cash. Heck I wouldn’t mind one of my own. Maybe I’ll buy this one. David, make another note.” Campbell ordered smoothly, a hint of a threat to his voice.

David kept his tone professional. “Yes sir.”

“Buy _my_ casino? You already have enough to start your own!” The man’s expression went sour opened up his arms “15k on the roulette? 40 in poker? Your little twink here won more money at Crabs than the dealer makes in a month.”

“Yeah, that’s what they were saying!” Campbell gave a hearty laugh.

“This isn’t funny gringo!” Boss Man reached out and shoved Campbell's chair back. The chair tipped over and Campbell landed hard on his back with an “Oof.”

Boss Man got into Campbell’s personal space. Speaking threateningly. “I don’t know how you were doing it. Card counting, tricking the dice- but nobody cheats in my casino and gets away with it.”

“Check you cameras, all that money was earned.” Cameron said sternly, unperturbed by having the other man standing over him, or being on his back. Campbell didn’t intimidate easily, if he had the man never would have gotten to where he was today.

“I don’t have to check shit, Campbell.” Boss Man grabbed the lapels of Cameron’s suit, pulling him and the chair up slightly from the floor, “Once the Russians and the Chinese get on the line we’re going to have a little bidding war. See who’s willing to ante up for your head.”

“You mean _Taiwanese_. Not Chinese. There’s a difference.” Campbell corrected him like they were talking over tea. He was dropped back to the floor with disinterest, and left there.

Boss Man stood up and smoothed down his jacket, and happened to catch David watching. “And _you_. I don’t know who you are, but you played those decks better than most pros. Forget the old man, we all know it was _you_ earning that cash.” The man knelt down and pressed into David’s personal space. David leaned back, but didn’t get very far.

“If you teach me your tricks I won’t kill you. Out right. Maybe I could even get you a gig dealing here. We can certainly pay more. Maybe you’ll even afford a suit that actually fits you.” The man pulled at David’s suit collar, fixing it.

“No offense. But gambling’s nothing but a side hobby.” David said stiffly. “So I’ll politely decline.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t make up my mind so soon.” Boss Man tutted and waved a finger back and forth, “Think about long term. Do you want to stay with this washed up bull? Or get a sugar daddy who recognizes your worth?”

He made his offer with a rather perverted grin, palms open in a genuine motion. The rays of sun bleeding in through the one window creating lines of stripes across his face. It was this that undid him. Being in line of sight, the sniper took their shot. The bullet traveled directly through his head at some odd numbers of miles per second, and emptied his brains across the room.

One of the guards cursed in Spanish and reached for their radio. The door was kicked in before they could reach it though, knocking Flunky One down to the ground. Flunky the Second reached for their pistol, but was shot down by their back up. The person stepped in to the room and turned with a fluid motion. Executing Flunky One before the man could even get up to his feet.

All of the commotion lasted for less than a few seconds, and with the silenced firearms it hopefully went unnoticed. Provided their savior had taken out any guards near this back room.

David grimaced at the blood and then grinned, stars forming in his eyes at his rescuer.

“Bon Bon?!”

“Damnit David, why is it that when you get involved in fucked up shit, I have to be the one dragging your ass out of it?” Bonquisha stated angrily, reloading her pistol. She was wearing a glittery purple dress that was strapless and slit down the side to give a wonderful cut of her legs. David didn’t even want to think about how she was planning to do any sort of running in those heels. She was definitely rocking it though, so David could let that slide.

“I dumped your ass to keep out of this shit. Not so you can hire me on whenever you need back up.”

“I hire you on because you’re the best, Bonquisha” David promised, rocking his chair back a bit but bringing it back onto the level ground. He leaned forward the best he could, grinning exitedly. She rolled her eyes.

“We also needed someone unaffiliated with the organization.” Campbell supplied happily, “They probably would have noticed any of our regulars entering with us. Quick thinking Davey! This venture of yours is turning out to be something!”

“My venture?” David raised his eyebrows. This was all his idea. That was worrying.

Campbell didn’t seem to notice his question. “Of course it was. Ms. Bonquisha, was it? Wonderful job. You think you can help me up now? The blood splatter from this guy’s brains could ruin my suit. Give whoever shot that guy a raise though.” He narrowed his eyes. “Are they one of ours? Funny, I don’t remember hiring anyone that could actually aim.”

“I’m the only solo hire.” Bonquisha answered, pulling out a knife from one of her high heeled boots and walking gingerly around the mess towards David. “The rest is your shady ass militia. Who aren’t exactly the most competent bunch so let’s get out of here, quick.”

Bonquisha placed a hand on David’s shoulder and cut his hands free, and then moved onto Mr. Campbell. David flexed his arms and pulled the plastic wrap off of him like a particularly tight shirt. He then pulled his own knife out of his pocket to cut his legs lose. Bonquisha righted Mr. Campbell and cut him loose as well. The two of them were free in no time.

“Right, let’s split this joint.” Bonquisha said, indicating to the window, and pulling out a cell phone, “There’s a back alley running along this wall. I’ll have the van circle around-”

“Now hold on,” Campbell said, placing a hand over the phone and lowering it. He stepped over Boss Man’s body, fixing his collar with the exact tone of voice he always used either before making a new fortune, or potentially losing one. “We came to this Black Market Casino to earn some hard cash. We can’t just leave without our winnings. Not to mention Casinos are places of opportunity; and our luck hasn’t run out yet. I say we go for the vault.”

Bonquisha’s mouth dropped open. It took her a second to reboot. “Are you crazy?!” She hissed, “This place may be clear now but in ten minutes people are going to start wondering where the head of their operations went. We’ll be killed.”

“Bonnie,” David placed a hand on her shoulder, speaking reassuringly, “This is a Campbell mission.” He leveled both hands towards the man as a perfectly reasonable explanation. Seriously, the man was known for making money out of crazy ventures like this. “We do crazy.”

“Exactly.” Campbell pointed at David with two fingers and his thumb out, his hand the shape of a gun. There was a charismatic smile on his face despite the back edge of his jacket being covered with blood and a bruise forming on his face. “Besides, if we walk out of here empty handed. How is David going to pay you? I’m certainly not. This was all his idea!”

Bonquisha didn’t look to happy at this information, “Wonderful.”

“If I recall correctly the safe room in the basement?” Campbell took off his jacket and walked over to the remains of Flunky One, “David, check our brainless amigo there for a pass key. Bonquisha watch our backs.” Campbell picked up a pistol from the guards and a spare clip. “I’ll take the lead.”

David collected the downed man’s wallet and ID cards. Making note of the name and street address for later. They made their way down the hallway quickly and silently. The only one to see them was a cleaning lady who raised up her hands and backed down the second she saw the blood splatter and guns. They put her into a cleaning closet and locked the door.

Down stairs and through a security check point was the vault. A security point which was not prepared for the elevator doors to open and have people come out firing. Campbell and Bonnie took care of the guards, David walked straight through the short lived fire fight, and accessed the vault computer. They only had three guards? Not very good security. Probably pay cuts… or just laziness. Either way it made for an ideal opportunity.

One they were going to take advantage of.

David swiped the Boss Man’s ID in the security panel to the vault. A screen popped up asking for a pass word. David closed his eyes and concentrated. His hands hovered over the keyboard for a second, before typing in the required key. Something in Spanish he didn’t know the translation too.

Behind him the vault door opened, and inside was enough cash and golden bars to make a bank jealous. Why was a casino carrying gold? David frowned, and looked over the contents of the vault. Realizing after a second that the gold was separate from the cash probably used for the casino. Someone was probably storing it here temporarily. A bank? A drug dealer? Maybe a private company? Who knew, it was theirs now.

Campbell didn’t bother with the Peso’s, grabbing the one of the trolley carts and packing it with bars. Once that was over loaded, he ‘borrowed’ some travel bags from the shelves and filled two with all the American Money in the Safe.

“Tell the get away car to meet us outside that window in five. Have them pick up the sniper before hand. We’re going to need an extra hand to toss all of this into the back of the car.”

Bonquisha, guarding the doors, looked over the rather heavy looking cart of gold, skeptical. “No shit.” She huffed nervously and looked over to him, “He really thinks he can get away with this?”

“Of course. He’s Cameron Campbell.” David said not turning away from the computer. It took him a while to figure out where the controls for the cameras were. Ironically there weren’t a lot of them in the back areas, probably because they didn’t want records of the company’s definitely illegal pleasure services. David erased all of the footage from today, and disabled the alarm system, having to pause and sift through the personal effects around the desk to figure out the passcodes for those.

Bonquisha’s skepticism grew as she watch him press a well-used coffee mug to his forehead, concentrating on the impression left behind by the people who had worked at this desk. A useful trick he had learned from his mother. David gave her a weak smile, but he had a feeling it didn’t made things any better. Once he had the passcode, he turned off the system alarms and killed the in-house coms.

“Anyone got any alcohol?” Campbell asked as they finished loading the Trolley.

“No… yes?” David said, and found a half-full of tequila in his inner jacket pocket as he checked himself over.

“Wonderful,” The old man pulled the bottle out of his hand and fashioned a molotov with one of the dead security guard’s kerchiefs.

“Here’s the plan. I chunk this into the rest of the cash, it burns. The company’s leader is dead and they have nothing to pay the people gambling away upstairs, the casino goes belly up. Give it a month or so. Old Campbell sweeps in, and fills the gambling needs of the local community. Ingenious! I know. Between this gold and the casino profits we’ll have the Russians and Taiwan government off my back by Christmas. Good work Davey!”

Bonquisha made a sound of disbelief in the back of her throat. David made a mental note to tell her about the whole Oil Field ‘miracle’ that went down two years ago. Not today though, he’d need some non-repurposed alcohol in his system to recount that stress fest.

David helped Bonquisha get the gold cart into the elevator, and each of them took a duffle bag of cash. Campbell lit the hanker chief at the end of the bottle, and chunked the bottle into the wall above the piles of money. It caught fire easily enough, and Campbell joined them in the elevator.

Up they went, a floor higher than they’d been originally since all the security would be expecting them on the ground floor, if anything. The second floor in the back rooms seemed to be the focus for the sex work shops. There were no proper guards, just some chunky men as bouncers. Bonquisha shot the first guy in the leg as they came out of the elevator, and kicked away his gun before crushing his hand under one of her high heels. Campbell knocked out the other with a blow to the head. David pushed the cart down the hall, past woman and a few men scrambling out of their way fearfully as the three of them made their way through. People were screaming now, and the air was thick with the smell of flowery smells intended to cover up other unsavory ones.

David pushed the payload down the hall, trying not to linger his gaze on any one thing in particular. Looking for threats but focusing on the job at hand. He hated doing these kinds of jobs- but that’s all they were. Jobs. He would put it behind him soon enough; even though ironically it hadn’t yet to pass.

Bonquisha was on his right and Campbell on his left. The older man shouting in broken Spanish, while Bonquisha ordered people to get out of their way in English. David pushed the cart down the center of the room, leading the wave of panic. They came to the room that was over looking the alley down stairs, and kicked the door in. Two different people screamed.

“Sali. Ahora!” Campbell ordered, and two naked woman ran out in tears. He then walked over to the window and looked down to the back alley. He turned back to the two of them, all business.

“Escape car’s here. David, help me with the window.” “Yes sir.” “Bonnie-” “Covering the door.” “Good.”

Campbell tucked his borrowed pistol into his pants, and grabbed onto the bars beside the window. David grabbed the other side, and they both pulled. Taking the bars and the curtains out straight from the cheap plaster.

“This is insane.” Bonquisha muttered from the door way. But she didn’t stop them both from lifting up the trolley of gold from either end, and chunking it out the window.

There was a second of silence. Then there was a huge crash that would not have been out of place in most cartoons. Followed by an American voice. “Holy fuck!”

“Heads up.” David leaning out the broken window, dangling one of the duffle bags.

One of the three soldiers in body armor looked up from the mess of gold in the dirty alley way. Where the trolley had landed square in the back of a heavy duty trailer. Surrounding the vehicle were four armed mercenaries. Each of them with the Campbell insignia on their backs.

One of the soldiers held out their hands in disbelief at the mess. “Nice of you to give us a warning this time.” David tossed the bundle of cash down to him, and started breaking the glass with his elbow so they could make their exodus.

“Of course.”

“One of you get the gold bars that fell off into the trailer.” Campbell commanded from behind him. Shouldering the second bag of money.

“Guys, I think they figured out where we are.” Bonquisha warned.

“Best we leave then. Ladder.” David gestured, and one of the mercenaries picked up a ladder from the bed of the trailer, and leaned it against the wall. Campbell left first not bothering with the rungs so much as just sliding down the edge rails, David waved Bonquisha down next covering her. He went last, barricading the door with the bed to give him a bit of time. The two mercenaries chunking gold bricks back onto the trailer, unrolled a tarp and tossed it over the treasure weighing it down with cinder blocks. Everyone piled into the back of the van hauling the trailer, and they took off. Leaving the ladder and a few stray bricks behind.

Everyone was on high alert as they pulled out of the alley way onto the street. Tense as the driver didn’t peel off immediately cutting through traffic. Instead they took the first left, then another. Snaking their way unassumingly through the city streets. After all, who would be looking to stop a robbery from a casino that wasn’t supposed to exist?

The only vehicles they had to worry about being in pursuit were the ones from the casino directly- and with the head of operations dead they were going to have a bit of difficulty coordinating cars in time.

“This is too easy. Just too fucking easy. How are we getting away with this?”  Bonquisha whispered in disbelief.

“I turned off all the cameras, and the security system.” David explained helpfully.

“Is that what you were doing with that coffee mug and the voodoo stuff?” She asked doubtfully.

“It’s not voodoo. It’s- never mind.” David didn’t feel like explaining himself at that moment.

“Still can’t believe this is working.” Bonquisha muttered under her breath. Trading in her pistol for a rifle and making sure it was loaded.

“Your first Campbell mission, I see.” Campbell laughed an eyebrow raised, “My lady this is just normal business for us. Floor it amigo.” The older man slapped the back of the driver’s seat. “No stops, let’s head straight for the safe house. None of you are getting paid if we lose this cargo.”

The driver punched the gas, not needing to be told twice. David, who happened to still be standing, jerked back and balanced himself against the wall. Using it as a guide to step over the duffle bags in back of the truck to sit along side one of the benches running alongside the wall. Bonquisha handed him a rifle and he took it even though he didn’t go through the motions to make sure it was armed and ready.

David usually would have usually, but he was starting to develop a splitting head ache. Definitely magical back lash, he’d pushed himself a bit too far. Damnit. His time was running short.

“Uhm, What day is it?” David hissed, pressing the heel of one hand to his forehead and trying to massage the ache away.

Bonquisha was focused on the back door, waiting for someone to come chasing after them. “Today’s Friday.”

“Oh, so that’s how you came up with this plan?” Campbell seemed to catch on. He always did. He was an astute business man. David met the man’s eyes briefly and Campbell leaned forward, grinning. “Today’s August 15th. 2016” Campbell replied steadily.

“Right- where-”

“I came over to your parents house. You punched me.”

“Oh.” David blinked in genuine surprise, “I’m sorry?”

“Eh,” Campbell waved his hand as if it wasn’t such a big deal. “I kind of needed it. I wasn’t going to listen to you otherwise.” He grinned and gestured to the money. “Besides, you’ve pulled through. Just like you always do.”

David glanced down at the bags of money sitting between them, and looked back up to Campbell. Wanting to get as much information as he could. “Right. What city is this, or what’s the name of the casino?”

“What is with you and all of these weird questions all of a sudden?” Bonquisha asked, oblivious to the reality of the situation. David would have tried to explain it to her, but it would have been a waste of time. “Save it for the safe house man. We need to focus- incase you didn’t realize we just robbed a Casino.”

“Don’t distract him.” Campbell held up a hand disapprovingly, “Davey, you still here?”

“Y-yeah.” David winced and rubbed at his head again, Bonquisha’s interruption not having helped. He didn’t have long. He tried to think through the pain. Was there anything else he should ask- anything he needed to ask? The car jolted over a pot hole and David dropped his gun, both hands holding onto his head. It was really starting to hurt now. His vision started to go a bit blurry.

Bonquisha actually turned away from the back of the car to face him in concern. Lowering her own rifle, and letting it hang by the shoulder strap. “Christ. David, are you okay?” She put her hands on his shoulders, making him sit up.

“I’m fine.” David lied, leaning into her warm hands a bit. “You don’t look fine. What happened?” She said, cupping his chin and making him face her. Her hands hesitated on his jaw. David froze himself, as he realized what she was looking at.

“What is….” A warm thumb pressed gently at the side of his neck. “Is this…” Bonquisha’s fight calloused finger slid across the mark slowly, right above the color line of his suit. Making David hyper aware of the scar tissue still imbedded into his skin. His hands started to shake and the edges of his vision went darker.

Bonquisha frowned, and looked up at him uncertainly. “Is this why they call you the Cut Throat?”

David tried to take a breath, but he couldn’t. Existence dropped away from him and he was no longer in the back of the car driving away to a safe house. Distantly he could hear Campbell berating Bonquisha, shoving her out of the way. The older man was gripping his shoulders and calling out to him, telling him information, but David was much too far removed from the scene at that point.

Trying to breath- but his throat that was clogging up with blood and- and he couldn’t _move_ one of his arms. He was pinned and drowning and there was something covering his throat, something that wasn’t the comforting presence of his camp shirt _or_ bandages it was solid and round it was-

It was Max’s arm.

David jolted awake when he wrapped his right hand around the boy’s arm and mentally recognized the presence of _who_ the appendage belonged to. David stopped sitting in the back of a reinforced van driving through Mexico, and found himself laying on his back on his parent’s couch. Starring at the plants he had been listing off hanging from the roof of his parent’s living room.

Max was sleeping beside him, wedged between David and the couch. David didn’t remember him being there when he went to sleep. Had he come back down stairs form the work room? No, they had stayed up late watching movies? Or was that last night. David couldn’t remember exactly, everything was fuzzy between from when he was and where he would be.

David felt nauseous as his consciousness pulled him in both directions. He closed his eyes and tried to focus like his mother had taught him. He was here _now_. Focus on the present. David felt the small arm in his hand and let it go, before he squeezed too tightly and woke the child up. Or left bruises.

David extracted himself from the couch shakily. Sitting on it’s edge and taking deep breaths while resisting the urge to claw open his neck. He glanced back at the child behind him. Max was still blissfully asleep. He must have accidently turned over and thrown his arm over David’s neck in his sleep at some point. An instant wake-up call for David. He didn’t like anything near or touching his neck, for this exact reason. Panic attacks were never fun.

David placed a hand over his neck, messing up the shirt still tied around it. Even through the cloth his hand felt cold and clammy. He dug his fingers into the cloth and closed his eyes. Trying to steady himself in the feeling. He didn’t want to wake Max up. Not for something like this. He’d only had the kid for three days. It wouldn’t do well for Max to see him like this. The kid was pretty mature for his age, but that didn’t mean David should be shouldering his burdens onto him.

Three days. Damn. David thought about where Max would be if David hadn’t signed the adoption papers though. Alone and abandoned at some adoption center. Miserable. David couldn’t even imagine what it would be like to be put into the system if his parents died. It would be even worse knowing they were alive, but that they didn’t want him.

David's hands clenched tighter. Yes, Max didn’t need to wake up to him having a panic attack. So he would stop panicking and _breath_.

David felt the muscles relinquish and finally unlock, and he took a shaky gasp of air. He coughed and then took a steadier one. Than another. See, not so bad. He wasn’t drowning in his own blood or bleeding. His neck was fine. David lowered his hand away from his neck and took a minute to steady his breathing some more. Focusing like his mom had taught him. Slowly, he felt himself wind down from the near panic attack he had just had.

David opened his eyes and found his phone blinked at him from its charger. He pulled it over tirdly.

_I had one of those predictive nightmares again. You know the kind that are the reason I hardly ever sleep?_

David typed out a text to Gwen. Talking to her always made him feel better. He sunk down to sit on the floor, his back to the couch.

_So apparently I’m making a trip to Mexico. That’ll be different. Bonquisha’s coming, her dress was really pretty. It was a shame it got covered in blood when Campbell headshot that one security guard in front of the vault thought. Oh, Mr. Campbell will be there to. We’re going to steal a bunch of gold. I guess we need it for the company. I’m sorry I’m texting you all of this at wow, 5 AM? I got more sleep than I thought I would. But anyway you’re the only one that really knows how bad these things can get since I tend to wake up screaming and all… sorry about that by the way. I know you said it was cool when I warned you about it, but I still remember that first time you tried to wake me up from a nightmare and I nearly broke your wrist. Ha ha, Memories. I guess. Anyway I didn’t scream this time, which was lucky because Max was right there and that would have been bad- Max is doing fine by the way. He’s still warry around Daniel but I think most of the animosity is going down? Eventually? Daniel’s making an effort to make amends, so at least he’s trying. Story of these last three days really, wow has it really only been three days since camp closed? Four days now, but does it count when the day’s just starting? All of my days are twice as long as others though so does that make it eight days? Idk what do you think?_

David stopped typing and looked back over what he had typed. His thumb hovered over the send button. He starred down at the rambling, text on his phone, and moved his finger up. Holding down the back space button until the words deleted themselves in mass.

David moved back out of his message browser and clicked on one of the contacts in his address book. Bringing the phone up to his ear. He held the phone between his shoulder and his ear as it rung, pulling out his laptop and opening it up. The person on the other line answered.

“You better have a good reason for calling me this early in the morning.”

David felt his heart tug at the familiar voice. He knew they weren’t a _thing_ anymore, but that didn’t mean the fondness went away. David asked, typing in a certain casino owner’s name into google.

 

“Bonnie. I’ve got a job for you. How does Mexico sound?”

“… I’m listening.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So you know those scenes you have cemented in your head, or dream up randomly and build off of? the ones that MAKE a fanfic for the author? Like: this idea is above awesome, i have to write this cause if i don't i won't ever sleep again. 
> 
> This is that chapter for me. 
> 
> Most of the story ideas for this fic were just small headcannons i had floating around, but this dream sequence is what formed them into the idea of competent!David and him actually being a player in the shadier side of Campbell. Having more of a connection to the supernatural, and Max unknowingly getting dragged down into it all. 
> 
> I hope you guys are buckled in, because the ride's officially started. Expect the fic to only get weirder and darker from here.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max has never really considered himself normal. But on this day he realizes that he is perfectly fine being sequestered into this category. He's normal. David and Daniel are just fucking weird.

# Ch18.

Max woke up to the sound of someone typing away at a computer. It was a familiar sound, his parents often worked even when they weren’t at work, and their office was set up in what most people used as a dining room. He figured he must have fallen asleep on the sofa and turned over, intending to get some more shut eye.

He snuggled deeper into the couch, put frowned when a few things didn’t quite add up. His parents hated it when he slept on the couch. Why hadn’t they woken him up and sent him up to his room? Also, the living room sofa was leather. Not made from cloth. It also smelled like pine? Nothing in his parent’s house smelled like pine.

Max opened his eyes, blinking in confusion when he found that he was outside. No. Not outside, they were hanging plants? David’s living room. Right. The dots connected and Max sat up, rubbing the sand out of his eyes.

David was sitting on the floor beside the couch, working on his laptop. He had a notepad nearby, and several pages filled with notes. Max couldn’t make any sense of them, but the website he was on advertised a flat bed trailer. What David wanted with one, Max didn’t know. And he kind of didn’t want too know. David looked like he was in focus mode. Which at camp ment some asinine camp activity that focused on friendship building or something Max would for sure hate, but wouldn’t be able to get out of. David being focused about something outside of camp… yeah, count him out of it.

Max carefully laid back down, fully intended to go back to sleep and pretend he hadn’t seen anything.

He couldn’t for some reason though. It wasn’t because the sofa was uncomfortable or David typing on the computer was annoying him or anything like that. It was just… like this weird energy was filling the room. Kind of like when one person was really, really angry and everyone would walk egg shells around them. Only it wasn’t anger. David was just like… a little _too_ absorbed into what he was doing.

Which was weird. Max couldn’t really put it into words. But it was weird to see David doing something like office work in the first place. Like, as weird as… as it would be for his father to try to go camping. Or something like that. Max wasn’t so good at analogies before his first cup of coffee.

He tried to ignore it and just go back to sleep, but it kept bugging him. Like the sensation of an itch that wouldn’t be ignored. Max endured for a bit longer. Both of his parents worked in business so he knew well enough that when adults were working not to bother them. But his temper eventually got the better of him.

“Could you just stop already?” Max snapped, sitting up and turning over to look at David.

David visibly jumped, hiding his screen as if pricing stupid fucking rent vehicles was shady. “Max?” He asked in confusion and surprise, clearly not having registered he was awake.

“Yes, I’m Max. You’re David. Glad we’ve gotten that straightened out. No body swapping today now will you stop it already?”

David looked left, then right, and narrowed his eyes. “Stop _what_?”

“You’re-” Max struggled to find the words, “Thinking too loudly. I don’t know. Just fuck off and do your shady shit elsewhere. I can’t sleep with you being… whatever.”

“… _Thinking_?” David asked skeptically, but then frowned. Looking back to his computer screen and notes. His brows furrowing. “… Thinking.”

“Exactly. Stop it.” Max gathered the blankets around him and laid back down. “I don’t know, just fuck of.” He said, turning to face the back of the couch. “I’m trying to sleep.”

“… you can feel me ‘thinking?’” David asked annoyingly. Not in the way that implied he thought Max was crazy, more like he was puzzling something out.

“Sense what?” Max had lost track of the conversation thread.

“Sense… never mind.” David paused, probably collecting himself. “Good morning.” He said happily. Typical David.

“Good night.” Max grumbled,

“You shouldn’t go back to sleep after you wake up.” David advised, “It’s bad for a your sleep schedule.”

“Says the guy who’s sleep schedule consists of him staying up for days on end.” Max

“I did in fact get some sleep last night.” David said proudly, he shifted around. Standing up and stretching. “How about some tea, or coffee?” He asked amiably.

When Max didn’t respond he sweetened the offer. “I’ll make yours extra black.” David offered, leaning over the sofa to look at him.

Max opened an eye to look at David. He was doing that stupidly earnest grin that Max hated so much. It looked especially bright today. David _had_ finally gotten some sleep, if the lack of bags under his eyes was any indication.

Max closed his eyes again, unamused. “You’re so fucking annoying.”

David laughed, only seeming to find this amusing. “Come on, everyone else will be up soon. So there’s no point in going back to bed.” David patted his shoulder, indicating he should get up. He then moved over to the kitchen, pulling out a tea kettle and filling it up.

Max didn’t move, but he did open one eye to watch him. “Could we try some of the stuff I bought yesterday?”

“I don’t see why not.” David hummed happily putting his tea kettle onto the stove top and turning it on. Max sat up on the couch, and David smiled at him brightly from the kitchen. So annoying.

“Where are they?”  “Uh, in my bag I think.” Max rubbed some sand out of his eyes then untangled himself from the comforter. His back pack was sitting next to David’s own, right in the middle of the mess that had become the living room. Between the two of them unpacking things and David’s paper work the place looked like a miniature version of the counselor’s cabin. Max rummaged around in the back until he found the coffee beans he had bought from one of the stalls at the fair. Carrying them, and the grinder he had bought in the kitchen.

David was definitely in a much better mood this morning than he had yesterday. Conscious too. He wasn’t a making a huge mess in the kitchen at least. It was amazing what six or seven hours of shut eye could do for the guy. He was humming even. Max left him to get things started in the kitchen. Walking around to the table and grabbed one of the wooden chairs, pulling it around to stand on beside the counter. He was too short to reach them otherwise.

“Do you want me to grind those for you?” David offered, when he saw Max reach for the grinder.

“No, I want too. It’s my coffee!” Max insisted, pulling the grinder protectively closer to his chest. David backed off with his hands up. Max huffed grumpily. “I'm not a little kid.”

“Of course you aren't.” David conceded fetching them some cups. Max narrowed his eyes at the man. Suspecting sarcasm in the statement, but not being able to detect it.

It took a few tries to actually figure out how the grinder worked, and how to feed the coffee beans through properly. But Max got it done eventually, grinding up two table spoons of the blend, and depositing them into a coffee cup David had given him.

He might have made a small mess in doing this, okay it was _quite_ a big mess. Max's mom would have been pissed to come into the kitchen and see coffee beans and half-ground coffee spilt all over the counter. David wasn't his mom however, and didn’t yell at him or anything. In fact he only seemed amused by the mess. Sweeping it off the counter and into the trashcan once Max was done.

David himself had ground up some more of the leaves hung up near the kitchen- branches of drying shit Max hadn't really noticed they were there until David pulled one off its hook and started breaking up the leaves in a bowl with a stick thing. The kind of thing alchemists in Skyrim used to make potions and stuff. Only David just used it to grind up the leaves, and once he added water it was tea.

“My mom taught me to do it this way.” David explained when he noticed Max was watching. He filled both of their cups with hot water, and stirred both with spoons. “Habits you know? Why don't we take this to the table? Careful, this stuff is hot.”

Max dragged the chair he had acquisitioned back to the table and climbed up on it. This whole house was built for giants, seriously annoying. David smiled as he carried their cups in, oblivious of Max’s plight. Setting the cups down and sitting across from him at the table. He also collected his laptop, probably so he could do work or some shit.

David was drinking out of an actual tea cup, which surprised Max. The delicate utensil looked more like it should be handled by a fancy house wife rather than someone like David, who primarily worked with their hands. When David drank he picked both the cup and the saucer up then leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes. Relaxing into his chair as he took the first sip.

Max himself waited for his drink to cool down, and then started on his own. Immediately appreciating the rich taste. This coffee was _sooo_ much better than the crap they had back at the camp. He wondered if he could talk David into ordering more of this stuff. It just might make staying at the camp bearable.

They sat in silence for a while, relaxing. Despite how crazy the last few days had been, and how weird it was for Max to be sharing a moment of peace with David of all people. Despite everything.

This was nice.

Max could get used to this.

Of course Daniel had to just come down the stairs and ruin it.

“Good morning! David, Max.” The blonde was almost as _chipper_. Which was way too positive for Max's liking. He lowered his coffee cup and glowered appropriately.

The blonde didn't notice, he was too busy raising his eyebrows at David. Or more specifically his tea cup. “David, I though you didn't do fortune telling.”

It was David's turn to give the blonde a look. “I don’t have to be religious to enjoy a cup of tea.”

“Oh, right. I guess that makes sense. Sorry.” He then sat down at the end if the table. Joining them awkwardly with that unsettling smile of his. He seemed to be full of nervous energy. Jumpy. Like David was when they had a fun camp activity planned for the day. His leg bounced up and down rapidly, as if he didn’t quite want to be sitting at the table with them.

“Fortune telling?” Max regretted asking the second he lowered his mug.

“David's mother runs the fortune telling shop next door.” Daniel perked up brightly. “He didn’t tell you?”

“No.” Max set his coffee mug down and looked at David accusingly, “He’s really shitty about telling me these things apparently.”

“Max, language, please.” Daniel frowned, “Using words like that encourages negativity. You should be more positive!”

“Fuck your positivity.” Max bristled on principle. No way was he taking a lecture from the guy who killed people for a hobby.

“Max.” David spoke with disapproval. Setting his tea cup down on it’s saucer with a clink. “Daniel’s religion or not you shouldn’t talk to people like that. It’s rude.”

“I’m not going to be lectured by you either, Gypsy.”

“We _are_ _not_ Gypsies.” David leaned forward and pressed his finger tips to his temple. Exasperated, as always, but this argument. Nikki, Neil and Max had been wearing him down on this topic all summer.

“David, I hate to burst your bubble, but your parents are carnies. Your family moves around constantly. You do shady work, and your mom is apparently a _fortune teller_.” Max listed all of the valid points onto his fingers, “You guys are definitely Gypsies!”

“Max that’s stereotyping at best,” David set his tea cup and saucer down and to the side, “and racist on some level for sure. Also language, please. The day just started, do we have to start it with an argument this old?”

“I just don’t see why you have such a hard time accepting yourself David.” Max leaned across the table, holding his arms out. Enjoying the look of annoyance on David's face. “Embrace what you are. There's no shame in it.”

“Max.” David rubbed his temple.

“The Green’s are not gypsies.” Daniel spoke up, as if he was trying to be helpful. “They're witches.”

Max did an honest double take. “They're _what_?”

“Witches.” Daniel said it like he wasn't speaking about something absolutely crazy. He turned to David for confirmation. “Right?”

David did not look like he wanted to have this conversation, but sighed and explained the issue anyway.

“My mom is a _Wiccan_. There's a difference. Being a witch is more of a… a job so to speak. Wicca is a religion.” David made the separated the terms into two different piles on the table.

“One I don't follow, mind you. I’m an atheist. If you want details go… ask my mom.” David indicated towards the upstairs dismissively, “It’s not my thing.”

“But your mom talks in riddles half the time.” Daniel whined like a puppy, sinking down on the table, “Why can't you just tell me?”

David gave a dry reply, but Max didn’t really listen to it. Too busy Looking between the doubles and realizing something.

That was why they didn’t care.

The reason David's family didn’t care that Daniel did weird occult stuff… cause _they_ did weird occult stuff.

Max grounded himself on the table and looked up at the plants hanging from the rafters of the house. Recalling how Green had pulled some down last night for Ren to take home with him. He hadn’t been paying attention then, but now that he bothered to look a lot of these plants didn’t like normal house plants. None of them flowered, or looked like the pretty ferns reasonable people might have bought at a garden store. In fact, the few he recognized he only did so because David had pointed them out while on hikes or near the lake side. Listing off uses no one had ever really taken interest in, especially Gwen who would push David on with a roll of her eyes. Max had a good memory though, and he recalled their uses. How some could be made into medicines, or were poisonous, or could be used as pesticides.

It wasn’t just the plants. Looking back over the house with a fresh eye, MAx realized for the first time how many occult decorations there were. Like the crystals placed here and there around the corners and tables. The candles equally placed on Celtic looking platters and things. He had just assumed such things were cause the family worked at a renaissance fair, but now…

David looked up from his conversation with Daniel, and frowned. “Max is something wrong?”

“Y’all need Jesus.” Max pushed himself away from the table. Refusing to associate with such heathens.

“Exuse me?” David asked, sounding half way between offended and surprised.

Daniel’s brow creased in confusion. “Who?”

Both David and Max stilled to stare at Daniel. He was _genuinely_ asking who Jesus Christ was.

“Jesus.” Max stressed. Excusing himself to the couch and away from the two of them. It wasn’t far, but besides actually leaving the house it was the best he could do. Max picked up the TV remote, planning on finding something familiar to watch. Just so he could use that as an excuse to ignore everyone for the good rest of the morning. He needed a few moments to take all this stuff in.

David’s mom was a self-proclaimed witch. _David’s_ _mom_ \- there was a **god** **damn** metal **pentagram** embedded into the wood work of the coffee table. How in the  world had he not noticed this before? Screw cartoons. It was seven AM, Max was pretty certain he could find some Christian Worship channel. He opened the guide on the TV, morbidly wondering if Daniel would spontaneously combust if he played it at a loud enough volume.

“Oh! That Jesus!” Daniel exclaimed as David finally caught the blonde up. “Wait, it’s not pronounced he-zeus?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That moment when you've had a chapter written for a while, so you're working on the next few to stay ahead and then you have the idea: Oh HEy WoulDn't iT bE NeATO If... and then you go to change that entire chapter to fit that neat idea... but then the deadline for the chapter comes up and you're not anywhere near done with writing the 2.0 idea, and then you realize that if you go with idea 2.0 you'd have to rewrite entire plot structures you had planned for the next few chapters.... so you just go with idea 1.0 cause fuck rewriting 10k plus stuff you already have outlined, am i right? Right.
> 
> This is why you keep copies of stuff people. i'm serious, realize that a scene isn't working now, copy that shit and keep a jumbled subsection of them, it can save your bacon, or let you use ideas when they fit better into the story.
> 
> All in all it's cool. I was kind of hitting a wall with Idea 2.0 anyway, this flows better and is much fluffier.  
> (but idea 2.0 had Max puking up magic negative vomit just like S1 E10 Mind Freaks...)  
> Someone whispers from the closet. No. Bad spoilers.   
> All in good time.  
> (no but seriously this chapter ends on soooo much more of a lighter tone. it's like the color difference between oreo cookies and oreo filling.)
> 
> Anyway it's like 1 am here. If any of you guys are reading this and it's late where you are got to BED. This chapter will still be here in the morning for you to make sense of. C;


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red's family had always been a simpler affair. His parents, his brothers. They were all that Of course all of that changed when he married his wife, and then it all changed once more when Little Red became part of a picture. Now it seemed to be changing again; but not quite in the ways he expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the super late update. We'll be following Big Red in this chapter. So prepare you self for some blunt dialogue and... a whole lot of nick names.

# Ch 19

Getting started on Mondays was always a slow affair. With the business of the weekend being over; the only work to be done was shipping out the mail deliveries and web orders.  A task that could well and fully wait an hour or two. Red hated to be rushed into things. That was how mistakes were made.

That wasn’t to say he had time to kill though, they were on a deadline today. The entire house and both shops had to be emptied out for the off-season. It would be a lot of work, and the sooner they got started on it the sooner they could be on the road.

Red hoped his son had managed to get some sleep last night. David had been near running on auto pilot for most of yesterday. Which made him concerned; but he knew his son couldn’t help his insomnia. Little Red had been having trouble sleeping ever since he was a child, but after the accident things only got worse. Red didn’t particularly blame him for avoiding sleep if he could. Who would willingly subject themselves to nightmares like that? Not any sane person. Red wished he could help more, but the hard truth of the world was that sometimes things were just out of your hands. Either his son had slept, or he was going to pass out sometime today. There wasn’t anything Red could do to change that, so there was no point in waiting time or energy worrying about it.

Red tightened the laces on his boots and set both feet on the ground. Ready to face either outcome.

He turned to look behind him. To where his wife was still bundled up on the bed. “Honey, it’s time to wake up.”

“No. Mondays are evil.” Green mumbled into her pillow. Refusing to get up as usual. She did this every now and then, always one to be a bit over dramatic, but adorable. Sitting on the edge of their bed, Red rubbed her back fondly. Green hummed and turned her head so she could see him with her good eye.

“I’ll be up in a decent time. But I don’t want to get up just yet. So take care of the boys yourself please?” “Hmm.” “Thanks Honey.”

Best get the day started then. Red stood up, stretching his back and shoulders out a bit, before heading out of the room.

There wasn’t some convoluted trap covering the hallway floor this morning. Good. This house was too small for unnecessary messes. It was crowded enough already. Their family had gone from being simple, too substantial in this season alone. With not one, not three, but two new people.

Additions Red still was on the fence about honestly. Yellow was an enthusiastic worker, but it was clear he didn’t live in the same world as everyone else. The Kid was clearly trouble, enough said. Little Red seemed to have his mind set though; and once that happened it there was no way to change it. If Red spoke up now there would just be an argument. Something they were both tired of having after all these years. All in all, he didn’t have much say in the matter. Even less, if his wife was taken into consideration.

Green had predicted Yellow's and the Kid's arrival near the start of the summer with an enthusiasm only their son could match. Apparently the fates were tied or something. Reasonably Red could see this with Yellow. The blonde had taken to living with them like a duck to water. The Kid though, he didn’t seem to be too happy about his inclusion into the family.

He was a black sheep.

Not a good thing to be when their family was more adept as a pack of wolves.

Red made it down stairs to a rather boisterous scene. The Kid was sitting on the couch with the volume turned up unnecessarily loud. He was clearly trying to get Daniel to piss off, but he’d chosen the wrong type of ammo. The blonde was giving a running commentary about the sermon on screen, cross referencing it to his own religion. Expanding his weird, complicated web of insanity. Meanwhile the Kid was looking more and more malcontent with each point made by the cultist. The Christian worship show having the opposite effect of what the child was probably hoping for. Little Red, always up for a spiritual debate, was asking Yellow questions and encouraging him to ramble on. The two duplicates could have gone on forever, picking apart the worship service if no one stopped them.

Red opted to be that stop. Dissatisfied with how little progress was being made, and wanting to prevent the Kid from blowing up. The last thing he wanted to deal with this early in the morning was a tantrum.

“Has no one started breakfast?” Red questioned, hands on his hips.

His Son rolled his eyes before picking up a tea cup and taking a sip. “Well good morning to you too.” He was as moody as ever, but it looked like he had gotten some sleep at least. Good.

“Oh, good morning Mr. Green!” Yellow greeted him enthusiastically, clapping his hands behind his back and standing at attention. “How are you doing today? Sorry, we were having a bit of a spirited deliberation. If you want me to start breakfast I could-”

“Wait. _You're_ cooking?” The Kid stood up on the couch in protest.

“I intend to.” Yellow informed pleasantly, ignoring the Kid’s rude tone. “Starting off the day with a healthy meal is a sure recipe for a positive experience. Something I’m always happy too-”

“Yeah, no thanks.” The Kid interrupted dismissively. “No way am I eating anything you make.”

“Max.” Little Red spoke up. Attempting to diffuse the situation before it got out of hand.  “If you don’t want Daniel to make you something, that’s fine. You can just make a bowl of cereal. There's no need to be so argumentative.”

The Kid looked like he wanted to be nothing but argumentative. Puffing up angrily like a small dog might, but then Daniel disapproved. “David, cereal is hardly a healthy breakfast.”

And just like that the Kid was all on board for David’s suggestion. “Well tough nuts then. Cause that’s what I’m having.” The Kid announced. Jumping off the couch so he could get to the pantry before Yellow.

“Max.” Yellow scolded, and looked too Red, hopefully a differing opinion.

“It’s fine. He’s not going to eat anything you make. Once or twice won’t kill him.” Little Red waved a hand dismissively, going back to looking at his computer.

The Kid's voice drifted over from the kitchen. “You guys don’t have Pumpkin Pete’s?! Seriously? How do you guys even? And what is _this_ shit?”

Yellow walked into the kitchen to answer the boy. “That’s skim milk. Language, please. We don’t eat a lot of cereal so we don’t have much. It is generally not that healthy for you. Are you sure you wouldn’t like some eggs and toast?”

The Kid refused, adamantly. Much to Yellow's dissatisfaction. Which of course started one of his rambling lectures about how bad foods could introduce toxins into the body and healthy eating habits what not. Hoping that it would somehow convince the kid not to eat the Cheerios he had poured for himself.

The health food stuff was complete cock shit as far as Red was concerned. Lots of people always seemed interested in Yellow’s health-kick advice. But that was clearly because he had a talent of hooking people in with his charisma, and making the subject sound interesting. In reality Yellow’s food plan was pretty much just eating healthy and sticking to fresh ingredients. Red highly suspected Daniel just didn’t know that instant meals were a thing, so like some kind of Quaker-purist-cook made everything from scratch. He did actually stick to what he preached, so at least he wasn’t a hypocrite. Though anything he cooked tended to be incredibly bland.

Still, Red had heard this lecture a hundred times by now. Yellow gave it anytime someone ate something he disproved of. That was why they usually had Yellow cook; because he was so picky about the weirdest things. Red ignored Yellow in favor of turning down the TV to a reasonable level and switching it over to the news. David listened to the lesson a bit, but his attention was clearly more focused on whatever he was doing with his computer. The Kid seemed to be the only one to take an interest in the health lesson.

Though not for any of the reasons Yellow might have hoped for.

“So what about something gross _but_ natural, like bugs?” The Kid asked, kicking his feet. He was enjoying a bowl of cereal despite Yellow’s ongoing lecture. If anything he was enjoying it _because_ Daniel so clearly disapproved. “Are they Positive or Negative?”

“Who in the world would willingly eats bugs?” Yellow wrinkled his nose in disgust.

“My friend Nikki does. She says it’s funny to see how people react when you eat them. There was this one time it rained over night at the camp, so there was this huge earth worm in Nurf’s garden. He dared her to eat it. This thing was huge like, easily this long and this thick. Almost like a small snake.” The Kid said, exaggerating the size with his arms, spoon still in hand. “So anyway she says bet and slurps the whole thing down like a noodle. It was wet and gross and Neil almost gagged.”

“That's revolting.” Yellow looked almost ill at the idea that anyone would eat something like a worm. “David, why would you let the kids do such a thing?”

“Trust me. A simple worm is not the worst thing Nikki has eaten.” Little Red assured, looking up briefly from his computer. Half-absorbed in his work.

“Yeah, remember that time she vored that slug?” The Kid couldn’t hide his smile. He was clearly enjoying grossing Yellow out.

Little Red shook his head, like he knew all too well what the Kid was talking about. “And then she threw it up? Trust me, I remember.”

“It was still alive!” The Kid told Yellow excitedly, slamming his hands on the table and sitting up on his knees. “It moved and everything! She totally was going to eat it again- But David stopped her.”

“That’s disgusting!” “Yeah, awesome right?” “I disagree.” “Well then you’re _definitely_ not going to want to hear about how I tried to sabotage Space Camp.”

“Sabotage?” Red picked up on the word. Surprised to hear it coming from such a small child. His son groaned and covered his face. As if he didn’t want to be reminded of whatever story the Kid was going to tell.

The grin on the Kid’s face grew, either from having a new audience member, or because of the story he couldn’t tell. “We faked a moon landing. David got punched by and Astronaut.”

“What?” Red was even more confused. He looked to his son for an explanation. But it didn’t come from him, rather the small child.

“Someone who makes the pamphlets for Camp Campbell decided they were done with their shit, and printed out fliers that _promised_ video footage of kids going to the moon if they signed up for Space Camp.” The Kid explained with far more diction than Red had thought possible. He was more used to kids this age shouting out memes and talking nonsense. Even at this age David had been more about imaginary quests than actually understanding how the world worked.

“Well Buzz Aldrin’s great nephew, like the actual astronaut’s _grand kid_ , got signed up for the camp. Needless to say he was not happy when David photo shopped the kid’s face onto the actual moon landing footage.” The Kid grinned smugly. “But the best part is **why** he had to photo shop the video. It’s all thanks to yours truly.”

“No it’s not.” David corrected. “Gwen and I forgot to set up the cameras.”

“I still made Space Kid sick enough that you were cleaning up shit stains for a week.” The Kid pointed out.

“ _What_?” Yellow chimed in from the kitchen, revolted.

Little Red sighed and used the heel of his hand to rub his temple. “Max, in an effort to sabatoge us, stuff the kid full of expired space ice cream.”

“Like a pinyata,” The Kid said smugly, “and it alllll came out like one in a big-”

“Okay, I don’t want to hear any more of this.” Yellow covered his ears.

“Both ends. At the same time.”

“Nope.” Yellow refused to listen. But the stories only got progressively worse from there. To the point that even Little Red was asking him to stop.

Red though couldn’t help but listen to the Kid’s supposed antics with surprise. It wasn’t every day you heard about a ten year successfully exploring haunted mansions with orgy dungeons, or taking over the camp and digging pit traps when someone else assumed control. If his Son’s reactions to half the story were genuine, the Kid wasn’t playing around. And not at all what Red had assumed him to be. Perhapse there was potential for him to be part of their family. Or be the ruin of it. He didn’t like the idea of housing an active trouble maker. David had been enough of a handful and he had only been overly helpful at the worst.

The Kid, clearly intent on pushing things as far as he could to gross everyone out, was now reaching across the table. Demanding his son's laptop so he could pull up a video showing some man putting a whole bag of super sour balls into his mouth.nPredictably this didn’t end well. One misplaced hand upturned the forgotten cereal bowl into a growing puddle on the dining table.

His Son picked up his laptop before the mess could fry his device. “ **Max**.” his son said, a bit frustrated.

The Kid seemed to have realize he had crossed a line, attempting to clean up the mess somewhat, but not owning up to his mistake. “If you had just given me your computer this wouldn’t have happened.”

“No.” Red spoke and the Kid flinched at his stern tone. Looking up at him somewhat fearfully. Red put his hands on his hips and gave the child what for. “This is exactly why we don’t climb up on the furniture. He said no the first time, and that should have been that. Yellow. Some towels.”

“Yes sir.” Yellow was already halfway from the kitchen with a handful of towels. He passed them out and they all got to wiping down the table top, chairs, and floor. Everyone pitched in, but Red made sure that the Kid cleaned up the majority of the mess so he would learn something of a lesson.

During the chaos Green made her way down the stairs, and approached him without the others taking notice. “Are they done talking about eating bugs?” She asked, looking over at the others warily.

“I think so.” “Good, I’ve no mind to listen to such things.” She shuddered and straitened her shirt. She hated insects, always had. Red wouldn’t hold it against her, everyone had that something.

By the time they finished cleaning up, the food was done. Yellow washed his hands and served off the food. Dishing out eggs onto plates and passing them around. Yellow served everyone, and then himself, but paused before sitting down.

“Max. Are you still hungry? I have some extra eggs.” Yellow offered the last serving still in the pan as a sort of peace offering. The Kid gave the food a warry glare. Clearly suspecting that the offered food was poisoned or something. Hunger won out in the end though, as he hadn’t eaten any of his cereal before spilling it. In the end he shrugged and grumbled some excuse or other. Daniel seemed pleased as he portioned out Max’s serving and passed him a plate, along with some toast and fruit. The Kid took the plate and poked at it for a bit. Only eating once it was clear that no one else’s food was contaminated. Everyone noticed, but no one called him out on it.

“So. Game plan for today.” Red decided to coordinate everything now, while he had everyone present. He sprinkled a liberal amount of pepper onto his eggs and put the shaker aside. “We start with the laundry room and then the shops. Green and the Kid pack up the house. Have everything ready to load by the time we’re done with the shops.”

“So. How we always do it?” Little Red held out his hand and raised an eyebrow sarcastically.

Red sometimes wondered if his son would ever move past speaking to him like a teenager. Red counted to five, not letting himself be goaded into starting an argument. He then turned to his wife. “What time is Ren going to arrive?”

“He went out to the bonfire last night.” Green pushed some hair back over her shoulder. “I told him not to be here until nine. He’ll be late though. Probably more towards ten.”

It was just before eight now, so they had two hours. Red nodded, adding this information to our time frame. “He can help us move boxes when he gets here. We’ll start without him though.” He then took a bite of his eggs. Waiting to see if anyone had any questions. No one did.

Once they were done eating they got started. There was a lot to get done, and no time to waste. His son moved the Rig up to the back of the shop so they could start loading up. Green took the Kid, and they started boxing up the living room, kitchen, and everything they hadn’t gotten to last night. Mostly just personal things.

The first place to start was the laundry. They had to pull everything out of the back door through the mud room. So it made sense to pull everything out of there first. Clear up more room for the rest of the furniture. Little Red showed Yellow how to uninstalled the machines, and they carried them out on the dolley.

Red, years ago, had made a special cupboard for holding the detergents and laundry items. The cabinets locked shut, and the whole thing could come down in two pieces by twisting it out a certain way. Perfect for packing quickly, the shelves themselves acted as boxes. Once the machines were out of the way he intended to move this. Ever since Little Red had gotten his first growth spurt; his son had a tendency to knock his head on it while moving things. With two people of the same height running around today Red figured it would be wise to take it down now and save them all some headaches.

Red was filling the cabinets with all of the miscellaneous things in their laundry room, when something caught his attention though. Sitting just inside one of the cabinets was a collection of curious items he wasn’t familiar with. Well, he recognized the pocket knife as something one of the knife traders sold, but there were also a few random slips of paper with numbers on them, and a lump of wood that had been hacked away at. A stick of pine, which for as far as Red could make out, was supposed to be some kind of fish.

He offered the items to Yellow in confusion. His son didn’t collect such junk so he figured it might have been his.

“What are those?” the blonde didn’t recognize them either.

His son glanced up as he positioned the dolley to pick up the dryer. “Oh, those are Max's. I pulled them out of his hoodie before I washed it the other day. Don’t throw away those papers, they’re his friend’s phone numbers.”

“You What?! I heard my name!” the Kid shouted from the kitchen. As if he assumed they would be accusing him of things behind his back.

Red set the other things he was collecting down and went to return the objects. The small child was wrapping up pots with newspaper and haphazardly stacking them into a box thrice his size. Green was doing the same thing, but with the more breakable dishes. A wise decision in his opinion.

The Kid seemed apprehensive of him, as he had since arriving in the house. Red was used to people being intimidated by his large size though, so didn’t take offence. He set the objects down on the closed box beside the Kid.

“Next time try and make the fins longer along the bottom.” Red advised, indicating to the fish, “It will be more anatomically accurate that way.”

Max noticed the carving and knife, and snatched all of the objects up. “You know you can just say it’s a piece of shit.” He grumbled unhappily, shoving the objects into his jacket pocket. “Not everyone does this stuff for a living.”

His words had been mistaken as an insult. That happened a lot, Green said was his gravelly voice being mistaken for an unhappy tone. Sometimes Red wished he was as good with words as his wife was, but talking just wasn’t his strong suit.

“If you don’t want to be bad at something than do better next time.” There, that was more constructive. The child stared at him. Okay, maybe that had come out differently than he’d intended. Whatever. The Kid could take his advice or leave it. He left the child to his packing to go back to disassembling the laundry.

Besides this small delay packing stayed on schedule. Once they were done with the mud room they started carrying the boxes they had packed last night from the wood shop, out through the living room.

An interesting conundrum presented itself as they started carrying boxes in mass. For almost all intents and purposes it was unnerving how similar Little Red and Yellow were. Both in their looks, speech patterns, and even small mannerisms. It took some time, and close observation to spot the differences between them. Though the more familiar you became with both of them, the easier those differences became to spot.

Sometimes it wasn’t the small stuff that differed though. It was an odd quirk here or there that just didn’t add up. One of those random things you wouldn’t have guessed until it cropped up. This happened to be one of them.

“Can’t you carry more?” Little Red asked, a little bit annoyed with the lack of progress after their first few trips.

“I… No. These are heavy.” Yellow puffed, struggling to pick up two boxes of shop equipment. He balanced them precariously, barley holding the weight. He looked over at Little Red, who was carrying four of the boxes with little to now effort, and seemed frustrated that he couldn’t carry just as many.

“You need to lift with your legs.” His Son said simply. As if different lifting techniques could magically make lifting heavier weights possible. He looked over at everything they had yet to move and frowned. “At this rate it’ll take us forever to load up everything.”

Red shook his head. Sometimes Little Red could miss the broad side of a barn when it came to certain things. The matter had nothing to do with lifting techniques. Little Red was just clearly _stronger_ than Yellow, despite the two of them having the same physic. Which debunked Red’s suspicions that Yellow’s similar appearance was due to a rather distant blood relation. Red rolled the dolley over to Yellow. Trading the device for the boxes he was carrying. Scooping the two boxes out from under his hold with one hand effortlessly.

“Use this. It’ll be quicker.” Red ordered. He put Daniels two boxes down onto the stack he had lifted them from, so he could take a whole stack of four. Little Red ducked through the doorway. Leading them out to the Rig.

“T-thanks.” Yellow stuttered, being thrown for a second after having the heavy boxes taken from him, and then rushing to use the dolley to lever a stack of his own stack of boxes so as not to fall behind.

Red didn’t see why he was so frustrated, or feeling inadequate for that matter. Yellow had been working with Red all summer. He ought to have noticed that Red possessed abnormal strength by now; and it wasn’t a far stretching idea that if _he_ had super strength so would his son.

Unless Yellow was just like Little Red. In that even when something was so painfully obvious, he never seemed to catch on. That might explain a few things, actually. How had Red missed this? Wait. Did **he** miss obvious things?

Red had to stop and think this over. It was a worrying thought for sure. He would like to think he was an averagely observant person. Sure he wasn’t the most socially adept person- but… damn. Suddenly he wasn’t so sure.

The duplicates returned from dropping their boxes off, looking confused. “Dad, you planning on moving any boxes today or what?” Little Red sounded annoyed, but he was just teasing.

“Yes.” Red hadn’t realized he had been thinking for so long. He collected a stack of boxes, and held the door open for the other two. Little Red collected his stack and headed out.

Yellow lingered behind for just a second to speak to him. “Everything alright?”

“Yes.” Red assured, and it was. He’d just need to talk to his wife later about some things.

Just like Green predicted, Ren arrived an hour later then he was supposed to. Half asleep and still hung over. By then they had cleared out the wood shop and were starting to move boxes out of Green’s fortune telling shop. They were working at a good pace, but Yellow had to head off to do his cult gathering soon. He didn’t leave with much commotion, but they certainly missed his presence. No matter how you sliced it, three people couldn’t move as much as four after all. They fell a bit behind schedule, but not so much that it wasn’t a major issue. They finished loading up Green’s stuff, and it was time to start moving their personal stuff, then the furniture.

Red stayed behind in the back of the trailer for a moment to organize and secure the boxes, while Little Red and Ren took a quick break for lunch. Green and the Kid must have been taking a lunch break as well. The Kid came out back with a sandwich and watched him work with the ratchet straps for a bit. After he was done eating he approached the back of the trailer, using the small side ladder to climb up into Rig.

Red figured the Kid must be curious and wanted to look around. He was a child and this was an 18 wheeler after all. He let the kid explore a bit, but kept an eye on him just in case. Not all of the boxes were secure and if he tried climbing on any they might topple over. Not to mention the Rig went further back than one would expect, he wouldn’t want the Kid to get stuck in here on accident.

Thankfully the Kid didn’t seem as hazard prone as David had been at his age. The Kid looked over the crates and around the trailer for a bit, before walking to the back of the trailer and squinting out into the sunlight. He spoke up after a while.

“You really expect to fit everything in this one trailer?” He voiced to no one in particular, but then turned to look up at Red. “I feel like this might be a bit obvious, but you’re definitely not going to be able to fit everything in here.” The Kid gave the trailer an unimpressed look.

Red took a moment to appraise the child, before turning back to the ratchets he was working with. “It will all fit.” He assured.

“Your wood shop, the shop merchandise, Green’s shop, the plants.” The Kid counted off on his fingers, “This isn’t Tetris, when you complete a line it stays there. It doesn’t disappear.” He gestured to boxes all lined up along the back wall, expressing pretty advanced spatial awareness for someone his age. “The truck’s almost full as it is; and we still need to fit in the furniture, and all the boxes filled with your crap. Not to mention the upstairs.”

“Don’t forget the cars.” Red added to the list.

“The _cars_?” The Kid raised his eyebrows in surprise. “How do you expect that to work?! They’re half the length of the trailer- both of them alone would fill up the bed. You _can’t_ fit two cars in here.”

“The Rig is made to hold everything inside of it.” Red assured tightening one of the straps and securing the boxes along the wall. “Everything will fit.”

“Okay, but **how**?” The Kid asked somewhat defiant. Like he refused to believe it was possible until Red proved him wrong.

Red didn’t like repeating himself. Showing him would be easier than explaining it to him.

He left strapping the boxes alone and walked to the end of the trailer. He indicated for the Kid to come over, and then pointed towards the ground. The Kid gave him a skeptical look, but approached to see what Red was directing to.

You had to have a fine eye for detail to see them, but there were small engravings all along the rim of the entrance to the back door of the cargo trailer. Along with more running its length and up against the far back wall. A spell Green had built into the trailer years ago when they had first bought the Rig. After all, what was the point of owning a Semi-Truck if it couldn’t haul everything you needed?

Red pointed out the magic circle. Then indicated how they continued up and around the door. Circles were the main basis of power for most magic. They were portals, and especially strong in doorways or entrances. This spell was complicated and much more than that, but a good example of showing the basic principle.

“What. Did you guys think of like; the most needlessly complicated way to mark how far you guys could put things in the trailer without it getting in the way of the door, and go with that?” The Kid scrunched up his face in confusion.

The child had no idea what he was looking at. Red was not surprised. Most people didn’t believe or know about magic. Anyone not born into a family of practitioners often had to start off from scratch. A hard feat since that initial hurdle of actually believing magic existed was quite large. Even people who saw impossible feats accomplished with magic would often dismiss it as a dream or a freak accident of physics. It was a mental wall as much as anything else.

“That is not what this is.” Red clarified, but was stuck on how further to explain what the spell was to the Kid. Sometimes Red wished he was better with words. Green was good with words, she was so much better suited for this than he was.

“So it’s not a needlessly complicated engraving?” The Kid sounded skeptical.

“It is. But there’s a purpose to it.” Red held up a hand to the circle, struggling with words. He gave up after a moment with a huff. It would just be easier to _show_ him. He indicated for the Kid to follow him, and walked deeper into the bed of the trailer.

Past the boxes he had been tethering, and around the crates which held his and Green’s shop pieces. He had to shuffle some boxes here and there to get past, but it wasn’t anything too strenuous. They just needed enough room to squeeze through.

The Kid followed, watching him move boxes around indifferently. After the boxes they came to some more of the permanent items, stocks of wood Red kept in the back of the trailer for their travels and things of that nature. They were stacked up along both walls on permanent shelves, with a narrow walkway down the middle of the trailer. First were the boards, some of them scrap pieces and others full-length sheets of different makes and thicknesses. Then came the wooden beams, processed and trimmed for different projects. From there they transitioned into your more basic lumbar cuts, then passed those into the full sized logs. De-branched and still with their bark on them, for chainsaw carvings mostly, but he had the tools to mill them down into planks or whatever he needed.

“… How far back does this go?” The Kid asked in confusion. He glanced behind him a few times, judging how far back into the Rig’s trailer they had gone. By now they had certainly walked the length of the trailer, but it continued further still.

“As far as it needs to.” Red said, satisfied that the Kid was catching on. He came to the back wall of the trailer. There was a decent gap between the shelving’s and the back wall of the trailer. Purley for the purpose of accessing what they were coming to see. Red walked into the small space, and then stepped aside so that the Kid could see past him.

On the back wall of the trailer were more engravings. Intricately complicated, the entire piece resembled something of a mosaic, featuring a infinity symbol resembling a Celtic knot.

It had taken Green more than a few days to carve out the spell, but it had been well worth it. For as much as their family moved around and with the type of business he owned, having an on-hand place to store large amounts of wood was incredibly helpful. He assessed the spell critically, looking for any wear or damage. Red reached out to brushed off some of the wood dust which had accumulated along the wall over time. Revealing more of the design for the Kid to see. In reaction to his touch the lines shimmered green briefly. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Red nodded, satisfied. Then looked down to the Kid to see what he thought.

The Kid looked incredibly confused, starring up at the spell. After taking it in he turned and looked back down the thin through way they had walked through. Past the logs, the cuts of wood, and the boxes. The entire length of which was easily twice as long as the trailer was supposed to be originally. The Kid looked back to the spell, and back to the end of the trailer. Trying to make sense of it all.

“Wait, hold on.” The Kid held up both hands to the sides of his head. He did another take between the extended trailer and the spell. Taking it all in.

“Oh… okay.” The Kid said. Voice quivering, but seemed to be taking it pretty well. “I guess… fuck. Okay? Magic? _Fuck_.” He leaned against the rack holding logs and sat down of the floor. Rubbing at his forehead. He sat there for a while, starring at the space between his shoes.

The Kid looked up, holding up one finger on each hand. “Okay one question though. No several, but the first: how much of what Daniel goes on about is actual... _stUff_? Like _ReAl_ magic?”

Red scratched the back of his neck. “Not any that I've seen.” He answered honestly. “I’m fairly certain He’s just crazy.”

“Okay, good. Cause, yeah. Next question. David. How much of this does he actually know about? No stupid question. He probably knows about it and thinks it's all normal, everyday stuff. Right? Acts like it's all no big deal.”

“That's a fair summation...” This Kid was very perceptive. Red had definitely been wrong with his initial assumption about the child. He certainly wasn’t a sheep.

“Okay, third and absolutely most important.” The Kid stressed. With the line of questioning so far Red expected something regarding Green’s or his own capabilities.

Instead he got a very eager, expectant.

“How do I cast fire balls?”

“… fire balls?”

“Yeah! Fire balls! Magic!” The Kid there his arms up into the air. And then out, like he could produce sparks just from the discovery of magic.

“What? You expect me to just learn this shit is possible and **not** want to do that?! It's like a dream come true! Show me how!” The Kid demanded rather childishly, rising up to his feet. “You're obligated teach me at least something. That’s what always happens, Right? You showed me and now you've got to teach me!”

“Fire? Balls?” Red repeated. He had not been expecting this. Going straight from learning magic existed to a full blown lesson? That was a 180 of no small degree.

“You're taking this very well.” Red voiced with concern. Wondering if the child was perhaps in shock.

“Yeah, I've met an actual ghost before.” the Kid shrugged, indifferently. “So honestly I'm kind of disappointed that I didn’t realize this sooner.”

“Ghost?” Red raised his eyebrows in genuine surprise. Ghost didn’t just happen.

“Yeah _don’ttelldavid_. Okay but seriously fire balls?” the Kid insisted. Moving past that middle part worryingly fast. “Walk me through it. I’m a pretty fast learner.”

“…” Unfortunately Red didn’t know all that much about elemental magic. Flashy things weren’t really his style. He was pretty much just big and sturdy- simple stuff. Green didn’t do that kind of magic either. She said in practice it wasn’t all that useful.

Red scratched the back of his neck. Running what he did know about the subject through his head. “Has anything around you ever self combusted before?” he asked. At least wanting to give the child something to go off of.

“No but I myself do combust things.” The Kid indicated to himself, and glanced quickly to the side. “Purposefully.” He tacked on for clarification.

“Then fire magic is probably not something you can do.”

Elemental talents tended to be part of someone's nature after all. They also tended to manifest themselves early. If the Kid hadn’t shown signs before now it was rather unlikely that he had them. Not to say it probably wouldn’t be impossible with a couple years of training. With a teacher that new how to do such things, and was hopefully much better with words than he.

“What? Bullshit! What kind of teacher tells someone they can't achieve their dreams?!” “A realistic one.” “Fair enough. But fire. One day.”

The Kid said, looking down at his hands and speaking with a tone that kind of worried Red. Suddenly he wasn’t so sure this had been a good idea.

“Basics first. Circles and things.” Red advised with a frown. “But later as well. We’ve still got work to do.” He motioned the child away from the back of the trailer towards the exit. They'd spent enough time dallying.

“Okay, but fire. Eventually.” The Kid made sure Red knew he would be holding that to him. Red felt something bubbling in his stomach, and it was very much akin to uncertainty. He feared he might have accidentally opened up a whole can of something he would come to regret later.

They made their way back to the front of the trailer. Red repositioned the boxes he had moved for them to slip into the back area of the trailer to their original positions. When he turned back around the Kid was standing at the end of the trailer, hands on his hips as he looked down at the engravings on the floor. “Hey. If people can like, do this kind of stuff. Why isn’t it mass produced?” he asked. “I imagine you could make a lot of money making trailers like this.”

“It wouldn’t work.” Red advised.

“What, does it need to be recharged or something?”

Red shook his head. “With spells like this, the more you do them, the weaker it becomes.”

“Oh.” The Kid stared into the back of the Rig. Thinking.

Behind them the back door opened, and David came out looking for the Kid. “Max, there you are. If you're done eating you should get back to packing. Once we get the couch and other stuff in, all that’s left is the stuff upstairs.”

“Dude, you never told me your family owned a Tardis!” The Kid accused Little Red, stepping up to the end of the trailer bed to speak with him. The height difference between the bed and the ground gave the Kid enough height to stand over his son, even if just by an inch. “You've been forgetting to tell me stuff again!”

Little Red seemed caught off guard for a second, before putting his hands on his hips. Looking up at the Rig as if realizing the Kid had a point.

“Yeah, yeah. I guess it kind of is? It isn’t sentient or capable of time travel though. I never thought of it like that before- wait. That’s a Doctor Who reference. Aren't you always making fun of Gwen for watching that show?” Little Red narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

“I make fun of her for being fandom trash. There’s a difference.” The Kid dismissed his own hypocrisy off handedly. With the help of Little Red he hopped out of the trailer bed. David picking him up and setting him on the ground. The two walked back into the house, talking with each other.

“So, you guys got any other really cool magic stuff around? I didn’t know you could do that stuff.”

“I'm sorry. Umm, just the Rig that I can think of?” Little Red didn’t seem certain. “Mom does most of that kind of stuff. It's also got the other normal stuff on it. Bullet proofing and what not.”

“Okay good to know. But now I’m kind of worried as to why that’s ‘normal’ for you guys.” The Kid did quotation marks, as they made their way inside.

Red couldn’t help but huff with some amusement. The Kid didn’t let his son get away with anything. He would certainly have his hands full. Poetic justice perhaps? Little Red himself had been quite a handful growing up.

Red went back to securing the boxes, and once he finally finished that he went back inside to start fetching the furniture. Starting with the sofas and then the kitchen table and the rest of the Living room prices. This was easily the hardest part of moving. Fitting things around the 90° turn which was the mud room, with heavy pieces was not an easy chore.

They were taking their first water break, the afternoon sun and heat catching up to them. When he was accosted with the first of many questions.

“Hey. What's the coffee table do?” The Kid asked. Appearing at his knee almost as if from nowhere. Red did a small double take, surprised to have been snuck up on.

“The coffee table?” “It's got a pentagram on it.” “Oh. Impact soaking.”

The Kid raised an eyebrow. “Impact soaking?”

“It stops bullets. In case we need cover.” Red explained. He hadn’t ever had needed it for such, but you could never be too careful. Working as a mere mercenary for several years gave you some sense of paranoia.

But then again he and Green had found themselves under fire with nothing but a, thankfully thick steel, table as cover before. Several times, actually. So maybe that paranoia wasn’t unjustified.

This probably wasn’t something he wanted to voice out loud to a small child though. Just as Red thought this and looked awkwardly down to where the child was. Thinking he would have to explain himself further. Only to find the Kid had disappeared as quickly as he had appeared, leaving Red alone. But not for long.

Every time Red was left alone, whether it be in securing some furniture or as he walked down stairs from using the restroom, the Kid was there with one or two quick questions. Usually about what certain objects they had laying around the house did, or how things worked.

It was kind of endearing really. Little Red had not been introduced to magic so much as grown up with it. So had never approached the subject with such a child like fascination. Especially since the Kid was intelligent. So his questions ranged from the practical:

“Does everything need a circle?” “Permanent spells mostly.”

To:

“So werewolves, is the allergic to silver thing real? Cause if I could be one, hell yeah but like; my mom is allergic to cheap jewelry, basically everything but silver? And I probably am too. So all I can wear **is** silver. You see how that could be an issue?”

“… I’ve only met one werewolf before. He never mentioned it being an issue. There are different kinds though…”

“Sweet, can you ask them for me? It's super important.”

It was very endearing. Red was quickly seeing why his son liked the kid enough to keep him around. He was smart, but still learning, and when he got grumpy he puffed up like a kitten and tried to appear intimidating. Which was possibly the best thing ever. He was dissatisfied some of the answers Red gave him, to say the least. But there was only so much information Red could give from answering the odd question. If the Kid wanted an in-depth lesson he would have to be a bit patient. There wasn’t much time, or opportunity to get into a full blown metaphysical lecture when you were moving house.

“Aw, that’s adorable.” His wife cooed with amusement. Poking out from behind the seat of the Rig. They had been putting their personal bags into the Rig's cabin. The Kid had just run away after asking him a question, probably not realizing she was there. “You’ve got yourself a small apprentice.”

“He's curious.” Red summarized. “Better to answer his questions than leave him in the dark.”

“Well, better now than never. Given a few years and I don’t think he’d be able to even realize what he was seeing was magic.” His wife moved to the front of the cabin and sat down sideways in the Truck's passenger seat, facing him. She brushed her braided hair over her shoulder so it was out of the way. “Teaching anyone older than a teenager is pointless. They think they know too much of how the world works.”

“Hmmm.” Red agreed silently. He looked back to where the Kid was talking to David as he and Rin loaded up the last boxes. Crossing his arms.

“What’s that look?” “What look?” “The look on your face.”

Green indicated to his face. Red hadn’t known he was making any expression. He wipped off the bottom of his chin, and scratched his beard. When he voiced his thoughts he took a step closer, so that no one might listen in. “You think I should hold off telling him these things? I don’t want to take that from David.”

“Little Red's not going to be able to teach him much.” Green threw up her hand dismissively. “Max thinks he’s an idiot. Wouldn’t listen to a thing he says.” She looked up and gave it a bit of thought. “…Master might have more luck. If you want him to learn some more serious magic.”

Red wrinkled his nose. “Don’t call him that.” “Don’t make calling him that weird.” Green countered.

“Hey we finished putting the last of your junk away!” The Kid called over from the back of the trailer. His son chided him for the rude phrasing. To which the child responded by sticking out his tongue. The child really had no sense of authority when it came to obeying him.

Green leaned out of car to watch the exchange with a smile. Red couldn’t help but appreciate the scene as well. David had always wanted siblings, but things had never worked out. Perhaps in some weird way he’d finally found a way to adopt some.

Yellow and this Kid certainly weren’t the first choices Red would have picked; but their family attracted weird. So maybe things would work out in the end. He did feel better about the Kid sticking around after getting more time to actually meet him. Initial impressions weren’t everything he supposed.

Green turned her head towards the back of the truck, and jumped to stand up. Enough warning to indicate that someone was coming. Red scowled and stepped around the door towards the front. Intercepting trouble before it could get too far.

Two young adults about David’s age were getting out of a golf cart. They started when they noticed him, and jumped over themselves to

The blonde one stood importantly, undiscouraged by the palpable height difference between them. “Exuse me sir. We’re detectives. Security for the fair.” He held up a badge in a leather fold. His blue haired friend leaned in comically, filling in the next sentence. “We were wondering if your son, David was around?”

Red gave the two his best unimpressed look while remaining an unmoved wall. Meanwhile his wife sputtered and laughed, leaning on his arm.

“Why are you two wearing fake mustaches?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Extremely sorry for the month delay in updating guys. I recently joined a LARP which meets during the second weekend of the month. Or rather, O should say rejoined. it's something i've done before but this time i've decided to drag my sister and BF along for the ride. It's a lot of fun, camping and fresh air and what not but between getting weapons and costumes together for them I forgot to update last month, and then I kinda ended up putting it off until now. Good news is that you're getting TWO chapters this month, cause I actually had this one written semi on time and was working on chapter 20 during this month. Don't worry i'm not killing myself to get these chapters out for you guys or anything, I appreciate all the support you guys have shown in the past for letting me take time if i need it. I just wish there was some way I could communicate to you guys about what's going on or if there was a delay. i don't want to post/edit a whole chapter just for something like that cause it makes me feel icky. IDk if you have any suggestions let me know. I'll see you guys at the end of the next chapter.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max just discovered that magic is real, David's friends are accepting bribes, and that much is easier to get away with than usual. 
> 
> WARNINGS: Pretty dark content for this chapter. mentions of murder, people doubting their gods, and repression of emotions. There's more light hearted humor than dark things, but do be wary. As always, if you feel that the story has to be tagged with something do let me know, an i'll update them. (i actually know how they work now. yay.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: Pretty dark content for this chapter. mentions of murder, people doubting their gods, and suppression of emotions. There's more light hearted humor than dark things, but do be wary. As always, if you feel that the story has to be tagged with something do let me know, an i'll update them. (i actually know how they work now. yay.)

# Chapter 20

“Hey we finished putting the last of your junk away!” Max cupped his hands and called down the length of the 18 wheeler. David's parents were taking forever to load up their traveling bags up. All they needed now was to load up the cars and they would be off.

A road trip to Texas via 18 wheeler. A _magic_ 18 wheeler. Max couldn’t help but feel a little excitement. Anytime he or his parents went out of town they always flew, or rented boring, normal cars. Of which he always had to sit in the back of and remain quiet or _else_. -Max had had some serious concerns about David's family, but compared to his original things were much nicer. Even for something as stupid as a road trip. David and his mother had been talking about road trip games and songs they liked to play all day. Clearly trying to rope him into them once they got on the road. Which was lame… but just so much better than what he was used too.

Not to forget the magical part.

Yeah, David’s family was turning out to have a whole bunch more surprises that his new guaridan hadn’t filled him in on. Thankfully while Absent-Minded-David-Green wasn’t up for the task; Mr. Green, his father, seemed to be. All Max had to do was play up the part of an exited kid and he’d answer almost any of his questions. Straight and to the point, very little work around. The dude certainly looked scary and ready to murder you at any point, but the more Max observed of him the man seemed to be actually pretty nice. Not as annoyingly jovial as his son was, but still a decent person.

Easy to manipulate too. All he had to do was keep playing up the wow-magic for long enough to convince David's father to teach him how to start magic fires. That alone would make up for all the hell he had been through this week. Max couldn’t help but grin evily just thinking about it.

“Hey.” David brushed his hair back with a hand, making him tilt his head back so he was looking at him. “I asked you to just let them know we were done. That doesn’t mean yelling it across the yard like that. Don’t be rude.” David chided, but Max could still detect a hint of amusement in his tone, so he knew he was off the hook. David had been in a pretty good mood all day. Much better compared to yesterday. He ought to sleep more.

“That wasn’t rude.” Max disagreed for the sake of disagreeing.

David rolled his eyes. “Yes it was and you know it. Don’t try to argue otherwise.”

“See. But you can’t _prove_ that I did know if or if not I was being rude. So fuck off.” Max stuck his tongue out.

David childishly returned it, and ruffled his bangs before letting him go. “Language.”

“Never.” Max fixed his hair from and noticed Daniel walking up from around the far side of the truck. Heading past them towards the back door.

“And where have you been?” Max put his hands on his hips accusingly. The blonde froze like a deer, apparently not having realized they were there.

“We finished boxing things ages ago. David and Ren had to pack up the last like, three loads of boxes all by themselves.” Max lectured. “And where were you?”

Daniel apparently hadn’t been prepared for an interrogation. Daniel looked from him to David nervously, but it was Ren who came to his rescue. Coming out from the back of the 18 wheeler and sitting on the edge. His feet reached about Max’s chin height. The ‘Rig’ as the Greens called is was huge. Max was only slight shorter than the tires. This Road Trip was going to be so much fun. “You went to say goodbye to some friends. Right? That’s what Green said.”

Daniel took a suspiciously long second to reply, straightening his already perfect shirt collar. “Yes, that.”

“And the cars are ready to load up?” Ren asked somewhat impatiently.

His girlfriend ‘not my girlfriend’ Nora had texted him a bit ago, threatening to finish off his pancake mix if he didn’t get home soon. Something Ren seemed eager to not let happen. Max knew this because he might have read his texts when he stole his phone for a bit. Which he **hadn't.** Ren had left it alone it was totally up for grabs no matter what David said. He’d gotten bored, sue him. It wasn’t like he could actually lift any of the fifty pound boxes. Or the millions of hanging plants for that matter. David’s weight training camp certainly wasn’t for nothing, he hadn’t realized the dude was so strong.

“… Yes.” Daniel replied a little faster this time, but there was still a discernable pause.

“Then what are we waiting for?” Ren asked the group in general.

“David's parents.” Max spoke up helpfully. He had called for them just like David asked. What was taking them so long? He looked around the back of the trailer towards the front of the car. Mr. and Mrs. Green were talking with some of David's friends. Max recognized them from the bonfire.

“Oh. Looks like they’re talking with Sun and Neptune.”

“Sun and Neptune?” David asked in confusion. He poked his head around the side of the trailer.

Ren, from above him on the trailer lip did the same. “What are they doing here?”

Daniel stepped around the corner to see what was going on as well. Breaking the head-around the corner stack they had going. Fucking normie.

“Why are they wearing fake mustaches?” He asked, confused.

The second he mentioned fake mustaches, Ren peaced out. “Nope.” He scrambled up and gathered his phone and keys. “I don’t get paid enough for this. Mail me my pay check or whatever.” He jumped off the other end of the trailer bed and like a straight up ninja just _disappeared_. Max blinked at where he had been, but never got a chance to point the phenomena out loud in typical comedy-action like dialogue.

This was because David picked him up and started carrying him under one arm. Apparently they too were evacuating the area. Abandoning a very confused looking Daniel to whatever fate two dudes wearing fake mustaches ment.

“What's going on?” Max asked, steadying himself as David one armed him away from the trailer. David was pulling out his keys.

“I told you not to get caught.” David hissed quietly. He tried to unlock the back of the house, possibly to escape through it, but things didn’t quite work out that way. Mrs. Green was on the other side of the door. Somehow. Despite having been a good a hundred feet away only a few seconds ago.

Okay, it was a good thing someone in this family had decided to fill him in on the whole magic is actually real thing because otherwise he would have been _very_ confused.

He wasnt the only one disorientated though. Green grabbed her son by the arm and turned him. Pulling David on a dime and back outside.

“Mom?!” David protested.

“No. You have to see this.” Mrs. Green said breathlessly. It sounded like she was holding back laughter.

They were pulled to the back area behind the trailer. Mr. Green was walking up with David's friends. He didn’t look happy. Well, he **never** looked happy but he didn’t look… pleased. He stood in the back with his arms crossed. Letting David’s friends approach them. They were wearing very fake, goofy looking mustaches. And their bad acting didn't help. They legit stopped and did the arms-crossed-back-to-back pose from any bad action movie ever. Once they had established their lameness, they addressed David.

“Sir. We have some concerning information we would like to share with you.” Sun sounded serious, but he honestly didn’t look it. With his unbuttoned shirt and fake mustache. Max certainly couldn’t. Especially remembering how stupidly drunk these two had gotten the night before.

Neptune was much the same. He looked absolutely ridiculous with the fake facial hair. “We've been investigating the case of the stagnant parking lot.”

They paused dramatically as if to see what their audience’s reaction would be. They got none. As if any of them knew anything about what was going on in the parking lot. They’d been here packing up the shops all day.

Mrs. Green snorted at their antics, and covered her face barley hiding her laughter. David remained silent, but Max managed to get a glimpse of his expression. He was gritting his teeth, like seeing his friends do this was physically causing him pain. Maybe the acting was some kind of ploy to embarrass him in front of his parents? Max didn’t think so. Neptune and Sun seemed pretty cool, they must just be super dorks. Not surprising from anyone who would be friends with _David_.

David himself shouldn’t have been so surprised in Max’s opinion.

“See there’s been an incident that needs some serious looking into.” Sun puffed up his chest. “A whole bunch of people’s keys turned up missing last night and we’ve got a whole docket of complaints from the fair staff from yesterday.”

Sun snapped his fingers and Neptune jumped from Sun’s left side to his right. Putting a flip note book into his raised hand in a clearly practiced motion. It gave Sun the perfect angle to look down his nose at the note book, reading off the description. “A child of short stature, wearing a blue hoodie, with dark hair.” Sun leaned forward, giving them a significant look. “Now, doesn’t that sound awfully familiar?”

“It should.” Neptune chimed in from over his shoulder.

Sun finished his sentence. “Because we’ve also acquired this!” The blonde slid to the side. Doing honest to god finger guns. All so Neptune could step forward and shove shoved a plastic card in David’s face.

David leaned back and took the card. Looking over it in confusion. Mrs. Green beside them died of laughter. Walking off and away, towards a very confused looking Daniel, who was standing tensely off to the side. Mr. Green remained an unimpressed back drop, arms crossed over his chest and an unreadable expression.

“What is… Max?” David sounded confused, but then snorted, and held back a laugh of his own. “Max, is this my old driver’s license?” He asked, turning it to show him. Sure enough it was Max’s fake ID card. The one he and Neil had concocted during arts and crafts. They’d taken a picture of him flicking off the camera and glued it over David’s, and re-laminated the whole thing.

Max had thought it looked professional and sleek… but seeing it now in David’s hands it looked really unprofessional. Almost like a grade-school kiddy project. David was genuinely laughing now.

Exactly like a grade-school kiddy project. Max felt his ears reddening from embarrassment.  

David was holding back tears. Fighting through his laughter to speak.  “This- this is _adorable_. Where did you get this?” he asked Max, looking at the card again, wheezing. “Did you guys steal Dolph’s polaroid to get this photo? It looks like you cut up photo paper to make it fit. How far back did you have to _stand_?” He pressed a hand to his forehead, laughing at the thought of it.

“Velvet of the Sword Forge apprehended this from a child of the same description.” Neptune informed, stepping back so Sun could take center stage.

“The perpetrator was trying to buy a weapon illegally.” Sun crossed his arms and looked down at Max, still under David’s arm. “This perpetrator right here.”

“Wait. Whoa, hold on.” Max was still embarrassed, but he wasn’t going to just take this lying down. He struggled out of David’s arms. The man set him down before he could gain freedom for himself. Max glared at the laughing man, straightening his jacket before facing Sun.

“Okay, so I poorly photo shopped an old driver’s license. And I might have tried to pass it off to buy swords as a joke. Maybe stirred up a bit of chaos.” Max outlined, and then made his point. “But that doesn’t mean I stole a whole bunch of people’s wallets and keys! That’s just plain accusing me.”

“We haven’t mentioned anything about the stolen wallets yet, have we?” Neptune asked Sun as an aside.

“No we haven’t.” Sun confirmed with a slight head nod.

“Hmm. Suspicious.” Neptune stroked his fake mustache. It tilted at an angel, falling off. he corrected it before continuing. “And considering your Parental Guardian.” He looked up at David raising an eyebrow. “Even more so.”

He leaned back crossing his arms. Then turned his head to the side to look at Sun. “I think we’ll need to bring him in.” “Oh absolutely.” Sun nodded not a split second later.

“Fuck that. I’m not going with you anywhere, I know my rights. You don’t have any proof.”

“Forging IDs is illegal.” Sun pointed out. “We can take you in just on that.”

Fuck. Really? Max tried to come up with something to say, but he also didn’t want to accidentally dig himself deeper. These two were smarter than David and Campbell apparently.

“Max,” David crouched down, placing a hand on his shoulder reassuringly. He was still laughing a bit, though he sobered holding out a hand. “No, Daniel. It’s okay.”

Everyone turned to look at the blonde; who was standing behind the two security guards halfway into a step forward. He stopped when David told him too, and looking pointedly between David and Sun.

Communicating silent doubt as to whether or not David should have him stop whatever it was he was doing. Mrs. Green slapped his elbow repremandedly and dragged him away. Apologizing. Daniel gave her a confused look but went along with her. In that second Max saw a hint of metal, and realized Daniel’s hand had been behind his back. Probably holding that knife of his.

Holy shit he had just been about to murder or at the _very least_ stab these two.

Sun and Neptune watched Daniel be dragged off, then gave David very skeptical looks. David cleared his throat and continued. As if his body double hadn’t just nearly tried to take them out.

“Max.” David put on his teaching voive. “These clowns are trying to pressure you into confessing. At times like this the last thing you want to appear to be is uncertain." He looked up at Neptune pointedly, as if cuing him for a line.

Neptune, after a beat, continued on with the fake cop-play. Like they were all just rehearsing lines for one of Preston’s stupid scripts. "That’s right. No way you’re getting out of this one. We’re going to throw the book at you.”

Sun and Neptune high fived and did a very complicated looking handshake. Ending with a line about Junior Detectives always solving cases. Like they heroes from a toddler’s cartoon.

David rolled his eyes, standing up. “Fair enough, we’ve been caught. But are you sure we can’t just figure something out, make a deal?” David was talking like a fake cop now as well; playing along. Though by the sounds of it he didn’t really want too. Max got the feeling he had to deal with these two doing this a lot. Which got real annoying real fast.

“Us? Take Bribes?! Never!” Sun put a hand on his chest as if appalled. But then took a side step forward, standing next to David and not looking at him. As if pretending horribly that they weren’t actually having a conversation. “Rents 600.”

“400.” David counter offered immediately. “400 _Each_.” Sun insisted. David crossed his arms. “No.”

“Then we’ll take both you and your gremlin here down to the precinct. See how he does in the interrogation room.” Neptune threatened, stepping forward and standing over Max with is hands out. Like some kind of cartoon villain. Max took a step back, nervously, but David kept him from backing away fully with his leg. As if telling him not to back down so easily.

“For what? A small arts and crafts project?” David produced the fake ID again. “No one would accept this. It’s obviously forged.”

“I am putting this in my memories binder by the way though.” David told Max as an aside. “It’s adorable.”

“You do and I’m fucking burning it and your cabin into the ground.” Max was honestly appalled by the idea.

“600 then, and you give us back the stolen goods.” Sun compromised. “The parking lot’s literally filled with people who can’t leave, if they don’t get their keys back they’ll probably use it as an excuse to camp here for the rest of the year.”

“Max do you still have the keys?” David asked with a surprisingly polite tone.

“Uh, yeah?” They were in his bag in the back of the truck. He hadn’t gotten close enough to the fire last night to throw them all in. Which was a good thing, judging by the way this was turning out.

“The Keys, and 400.” David bargained. “500.” Sun raised. “And we don’t get the actual police involved.” “Deal.” Sun held out his hand, and David shook it deftly. Then did a quick little handshake that seemed practiced, as if this had all been in good hummor.

But when they were done David, punched Sun in the arm rather harshly. “Why do you two always try and wrestle money out of me every year?”

“Cause you’re sorta rich.” Sun dropped the fake cop act, rubbing his arm at David’s angry expression. It not retaliating. “What, it’s not like it’s your actual money!”

“Plus at this point its almost tradition.” Neptune chimed in with a smile.

Sun circled his arm to point over at his friend, showing his agreement to that point. “That too.”

“That’s not a good thing guys.” David argued.

“What? It’s not like Campbell’s gotten it through any shadier means.” Sun held out his arms behind his head. “We’ve got to afford text books man. Call us desperate.”

“Just don’t **go** to college.” David threw a hand over his shoulder dismissively, leading them towards the front of the truck. “No college. No text books. No student loans. It’s literally that simple.” He threw out his hands and shrugged.

“Okay but that’s easy for you to say.” Neptune grumbled under his breath. “You don’t have to take classes and stuff.”

“Exactly. It’s stress full.” David sympathized. “That’s why I never went to college.”

“They’d never _let_ you in a college.” Neptune laughed, “They didn’t even let you finish high school.”

“I did too.” David replied sassily, “Called a GED. Got. Educated. Damn-right.” David clapped between each word to punctuate it, speaking with a very heavy country accent.

“You never finished school?” Max had never learned _this_ particular fact about his camp counsiler.

“They kicked him out.” Sun seemed amused.

“You?” Max couldn’t believe this. “What? _How_?”

“They didn't let me graduate because of certain reasons. Attendance mostly." David glossed over a bit too broadly. “But also because people don’t appreciate snakes enough.”

“Or things being set on fire.” Sun pointed out.  

“There was also the pool incident.” Neptune sounded a bit traumatized.

“And that totally killer food fight.” Sun started counting off on his fingers.

"That was Ruby and Yang, actually." David gave credit where it was due. "I think my crowning acheivment was that time I put the Mr. Macnamera's car on the roof.”

“Wait that was you?!” Neptune asked in disbelief.

“Of course it was him.” Sun seemed surprised that Neptune hadn’t known about this? “How else does someone get a damn car up two whole floors?”

“Hey, look anything can be done with enough teenage spite.” David admitted. “I’ve matured a bit now. I’m beyond that point.” David waved his hand away from him, as if pushing the past away. He snickered. “Which means that if I ever come across Mr. Macnamera’s car again I’ll set it on fire like a reasonable person.”

“He actually retired.” Sun pointed out.

“Really?” David seemed mildly interested, “Good for him. Still an awful math teacher.” Neptune laughed in agreement.

Max honestly had nothing to say. He had followed the group of guys down to the cabin of the car and listened to everything they had said, but he still couldn’t wrap his head around it all.

“You got kicked out of school for causing _trouble_?” he asked in disbelief.

David opened the cabin door of the truck and fetched out Max’s back pack. Setting it on the passenger seat. “No. Okay look. They didn't exactly kick me out 'kick me out'. They were just going to make me repeat the year again- but I was old enough to take the test and I opted for that. There's a whole life story here that we could get into.

"More like a three-year trilogy." Neptune added in. David hummed in agreement.

“But you **never** cause trouble.” Max genuinely couldn't wrap his head around the concept.

“I did a lot when I was younger.” David admitted, he looked off into the distance and rubbed his yellow neck scarf between his forefinger and thumb. “Things change when you start having responsibilities.”

“And start actually carring about stuff.” Sun pointed out. 

“That was probably the biggest change.” David admitted, opening Max’s back pack and rummaging through it, “Let’s see. Keys, keys. Here we go.” David fished out the stolen purse bag that Max had put all of the stolen car keys into last night. He handed it over to Neptune and put Max’s bag back into the cabin. Pulling out his own wallet next.

“500 dollars and returning the keys, just as promised.” David counted out some bills and handed them over to Sun.

“Thanks.” Sun transferred the money over to his own wallet. “Should make rent easier.”

“Are you not moving into the duplex with RWBY and JNPR?” David asked curiously.

“God no.” Neptune waved his hands. “We’ve got some standards when it comes to living conditions.”

“Ah huh.” David crossed his arms doubtfully. Leaning up against the side of the car.

“We’re sharing an apartment. Off campus.”  Neptune described. “It’s got a pool, rec room, and enough privacy to bring home ladies too.” He said suggestively.

“Ew. Gross. Kid here.” Max spoke up.

“Oh, sorry little dude.” Neptune

“Yeah also,” Sun brought up another point, “you’re not bringing any of your girls home. Not until they get approved by me. I’m not having any more crazy girls. The last girl you broke up with, threw a rock through our window, and destroyed some of my action figures.”

“That was one time.” Neptune held up his hands and rolled his eyes, clearly thinking Sun was over reacting.

“The one before that tried to take all of our video games when she left.” Sun reminded him.

“Okay do we need to hold an intervention for you?” David asked Neptune with concern.

“Hey, I don’t want to hear anything coming from you single dudes.”

“I actually dated someone this summer.” David said proudly.

“Really who?” both Sun and Neptune seemed surprised.

“A girl named Bonquisha.” Max informed drly. “She dumped his ass.”

“Things didn’t work out.” David corrected, as if he hadn’t cried for nearly two weeks straight after it happened.

“Man I hate it when that happens.” Sun sympathized, “What does it even mean? Like, am I not interesting to hang out with? Is it the tail? Give me something to go off of.”

“Well.” David rubbed the back of his neck. “Mostly, she said it was cause she didn’t like dealing with crazy situations.”

Both of David’s friends appraised him for a moment, and reached a consensus. “Fair enough.” “I can see where she’s coming from.”

“Yeah, I’m starting to kind of feel that too.” Max joined in. He was starting to think that it wasn't so much Camp Campbell whoch was an adventure, but just being in David's proximity. What had Qrow called him last night? A bad luck charm?

Neptune snorted, “Dude even your child’s done with your bull shit.”

“Neptune. _Language_.” David immediately jumped to correct his friend’s foul mouth. Neptune looked confused for a second. David guestured down to Max. “He’s _Ten_ dude.”

“Damn fucking right I am.” Max pipped up. David sighed and pinched his nose. Sun snorted and held up a hand for a fist bump. Max returned it.

“Well, I think we’ve been a bad enough influence for today. As much fun as this is, we ought to get going.” Sun admitted, and shook the bag of keys. “Work to do, you probably got stuff as well.”

David sighed. “Just the cars and then we’ll be out.”

“Already? Man time’s to short. You’ve got to come hang out with us some time.”

“Work man.” David held his hands out to indicate that he couldn’t help it. “Come camping some time. I’ll give you a good deal.”

“Maybe.” Sun shrugged. He held out his hand and Sun and David did their small handshake again. This time David didn’t tag his friend afterwards. Instead they shared a brief hug. He did the same quick handshake with Neptune.

“Nice seeing you guys.” David said.

“Have a good drive to Texas.” Neptune said as a farewell. “You too Max stay out of trouble.” He indicated that he had his eyes on him.

Sun held up a finger. “Oh wait, before I go.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a collection of cards tied together with a rubber band. Sun took out one of the cards and handed it to Max. It was a buisness card. For a Junior Detective Agency. Sun and Neptune’s contacts were on it.

“If this dude attracts too much crazy don’t be afraid to give us a call.” Sun grinned, hiking a thumb towards David with a cheeky smile.

“Hey.” David faked offense, “I can deal with the crazy I attract just fine, mind you. I’m not like some people.”

“If you say so.” Neptune said skeptically, and the two gave one final wave before heading out.

“Well that’s that taken care of.” David zipped up Max’s bag and put it back into the car’s cabin. “Try not to get caught next time, okay?"

“Yeah, uh. David?” “What’s up?”

“If you _literally_ got kicked out of school for causing shit. You can’t ever tell me not to cause trouble again.”.

“If I got kicked out of school for getting _caught_ , I think that would be fair.” David argued, “But they never _proved_ I did any of those things. Thus they pegged me for the one thing they could prove, skipping classes and poor attendance. …Well that and failing grades.” David scratched the back of his head. "It was a combination of things.”

“I'm not letting you off that easy." Max didnt back down. "This is like, the best get out of jail free card ever.”

“I don’t mind you causing trouble Max," David spoke with an honest tone. "I just draw the line at you or anyone else possibly getting hurt.” David ruffled his hair.

Max waved his hand away in displeasure, and fixed his hair so it wasn’t obscuring his vision. “What is with you people and ruffling my hair?!” he asked frustratingly.

“Its just so poofy.” David laughed. He shooed him out of the way and closed the door to the vehicle cabin.

“Hey David… one more thing.” Max shuffled his weight nervously, making sure Sun and Neptune were actually gone before speaking. “I uh… don’t… have five hundred dollars to pay you back.”

David seemed surprised for a good second, then shook his head. “Max, you don’t have to pay me back.”

“Yeah, but you told me not to get caught- and I got caught.” Max said uncertainly. His parents had always told him that costing them more money than nessisary was bad. They would have been furious if they had to pay 500 dollars for stealing some stuff. It made Max a bit uneasy to think that they probably would have just turned him in rather than paying it off, so he didn’t think about it too hard. He did want to pay David back though. He pulled our his duck tape wallet.

“I’ve got about 300 from the wallets I stole, and other things.”

“Keep your money.” David pushed his hand down, indicating Max should put his wallet away. “I’m your guardian now. If I have to pay for things like this I will. Honestly I shouldn’t be encouraging you to do that kind of stuff anyway.” David argued.

“Yeah, but it’s 500 dollars.”

“I’m not taking any of your money.” David insisted, “Liquid assists shouldn’t be part of our relationship. We’re family.”

“Yeah, but Campbell’s been short money for a while now-”

“Max. It’s **fine**.” David stressed, putting an end to the conversations.

“Okay.” Max wasn’t resigning. He just knew a pointless argument when he saw one. He’d find a way to even the playing field later. Max put away his wallet, for now. And stared down at the ground, thinking.

“Is something else on your mind?” David pressed gently, clearly seeing there was something else on his mind.

“Would Daniel have really stabbed Sun and Neptune?” Max asked nervously.

“Ummm.” David didn’t look so sure. That wasn’t exactly reassuring. “Look. Okay Daniel’s job right now is to basically have our backs. He was just doing what he thought was necessary. I’ll need to talk to him about lethal force clearly, but this is exactly why we're keeping him around. You never know when an extra pair of hands could be useful.”

The way David was putting it sounded a lit like those people you saw on the news, justifying having attack dogs or guns. Max frowned unhappily. “So if Sun and Neptune were actual police men you would have let him attack them?”

“If they were actual police, Mom wouldn’t have put us into that situation.” David sounded more confident of this point. “Also. Actual policemen are more of a threat. You don’t want to instigate fights with them if possible. Look don’t worry too much about it. I’m pretty sure Daniel might be able to take… _maybe_ a normal person with a surprise attack. If he were lucky, but Sun and Neptune are a lot tougher than your average person. If he had tried anything, they would have dodged or blocked it.”

Max found this phrasing a little weird, and had to ask. “Do they know magic?”

David seemed surprised by his question and then instantly amused. “Magic? No. Definitely not.” He laughed, but then struggled with how to phrase his next words. “Not magic. Sun is… _different_.” David narrowed his eyes, “In the way that… some people with… different cultural backgrounds are different?” David raised the last word as a question. As if asking Max if he was being politically correct enough.

“Like if he was from a different ethnicity?” Max offered.

“Similar. No. Yes. That’s a good way to put it, actually. He has a different _ethnicity_.” David tried the word. It didn’t look like it worked quite as well as David wanted it too though.

Max frowned trying to make sense of this. “… So what is he? A werewolf or something?” Sun did walk around with his shirt open a lot. Most of Gwen’s werewolf posters had abs on them.

“No. nothing like that.” David waved his hands. “He’s a Faunus.”

“What are Faunus?” “Part-animal but still mostly-human hybrids.” “So Furries?”

“No.” David immediately stressed. “Do **not** let them hear you summarize it like that.” “Why?” “Because Blake would claw your eyes out, and then mine. For explaining things wrong.”

“She’s a Faunus too? How many of your friends are Faunus?”

“Sun, Blake, a few. Look, Max.” David crouched down to be more on his level. “It doesn’t matter where people are from, or what their cultures are like. You have to respect everyone as a person and an individual. You should never judge someone by their race or culture.” He stressed.

“Well yeah that’s basic decency.” Max knew all of that already. Hell he’d had more than a fair share of classmates point out his different skin color before.

“I’m just making sure that’s just something you know that.” David clarified.

“I’m just trying to understand what you’re getting on about.” Max got the conversation back on topic. “So they’re half-animal. Like centaurs?”

“Sometimes. They can be mixes of any animal. Usually they only have one or two animal features. But that’s not what defines them, understand?”

Max really wasn’t trying to make this about race. He felt a bit frustrated at David’s inability to give him a straight answer. This was why he had been going to David’s father to ask questions all day, and not David himself.

“Yeah.” Max huffed. Figuring he would have to probe Mr. Green on the subject later. “I think I get it.”

“Good.” David sighed and stood back up. He scratched the back of his head and spoke again. As if having a second thought. “It’s also not just that Sun’s a Faunus that makes him strong, by the way. He’s actually a pretty good fighter on top of that. Neptune is as well. Keep a hold of that card, if you ever need anyone they’re goofballs but reliable.”

“Are they mercenaries like your parents?” Max asked with a bit of dread. Wondering how many other people David knew just so happened to be… casually killing others.

“Not quite. They’re more of like a body guards.” David explained, “So they don’t do anything illegal if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“Oh.” Good. Because Max actually liked David’s friends a bit. Despite them being goofy and weird. They seemed chill.

David lingered awkwardly for a second, as if making sure he didn’t have any more questions. The moment was awkward. As if David knew Max hadn’t really had any of his questions answered, but couldn’t phrase any of his knowledge into the words he needed.

David’s father broke the silence, walking up from the side.

“Enough dallying. Time to load up the cars.” He grunted.

“Yeah.” David tapped the side of the car and broke away from it, “Let’s get out of here before any more trouble finds us.”

“ _Is_ there anything else?” David’s father asked as if he now expected something to come up.

“Maybe, I don’t know. How am I supposed to know?” David threw out his hands. Once again sounding very much like a moody teenager when addressing his father. He walked away, throwing a hand over his shoulder. “Ask mom.”

Mr. Green scowled after him. Though the man constantly scolded so Max couldn't tell if he was actually offended or not. Mr. Green had a resting bitch face that seemed almost etched in stone. If Max didn’t already know the man was open to answering questions, he wouldn’t have dared ask any for fear of upsetting the man.

“What’s a Faunus?” Max asked, immediately once David was out of ear shot.

“A human with part animal characteristics. Not too much different than a normal human, but they’ve got good night vision. So you’ve got to be careful of that.” He answered directly. Not dodging around the question like his son had. Finnaly, someone who spoke normal English. “They’re from Vale.”

“Where’s Vale?” “Put simply, another world.”

“There are _other_ worlds?” Max’s brain hurt enough already. He guessed that happened when you learned that magic, the extended multiverse, and your guardian was a highschool drop out were all true in one day. Not to mention anime half-cat people probably existed somewhere.

“Of course.” Mr. Green said as if it was that simple. After a pause he explained further. “The Earth’s a connecting bridge to a whole bunch of different places. Don’t think of it in the traditional way you learn about in school. The Earth itself is a hell of a lot bigger than you’d think.”

“Is that why people don’t usually know about magic?” Max asked.

“Humans are probably the least magical thing in the universe.” Mr. Green admitted. “If you were an adult, it probably wouldn’t be possible for you to understand much of what we’ve discussed today. You’d be too desensitized to it.”

“Really?” Max

“Yes. But it also makes us resistant as hell to it.” Mr. Green grunted, “Ain’t no dark magic spell is going to make you lose your mind or steal your body or something. Not unless someone or something put a hell of a lot of effort into it.” Mr. Green paused, scratching his beard. “Of course that also means we probably learn magic the slowest. There aren’t a lot of humans going around throwing fire for example. Usually takes being half-something or special training to do that.”

“Oh.” Bad news for him. Max really had been wanting to get to that throwing fire part as soon as possible.

“Doesn’t mean you can’t learn.” Mr. Green seemed to recognize his train of thought. “Just expect to put a lot more of an effort into learning it.”

“I’m not going to have to get a PHD in magic just to throw fire, am I?” Max whined unhappily.

Mr. Green seemed amused by his impatience. “Maybe?”

Max huffed unhappily. Mr. Green shook his head and pulled a set of keys out of his pocket. Then indicated for him to get into the cab of the 18 wheeler.

“Are we going somewhere?” Max asked.

“Time to get the cars.” Mr. Green repeated, putting a hand on the open passenger door. He indicated once again to get into the car. “Buckle up.”

They were actually going to drive over there? Hell yeah! Max climbed into the passenger seat of the Rig excitedly. He said climb because it actually took some pulling up in order to get onto the seat. Everything about this vehicle was oversized. Especially for a kid like him. Hell, he was barley as tall as the tires. Red, when he made it over to his side even had to step up into it.

The cabin for the Rig was bigger than Max would have expected. But doing a cursory check around the cabin’s edge showed that there weren’t any magic shenanigans going on in _that_ department. There were engravings around the edges and back wall, but they looked more like the kind which prevented bullets and impacts more than did space-warping stuff. There was a driver’s and passenger’s seat, with a gap in the middle for the gear stick and things. The back area was a lot like you might find in an RV or small camping trailer.

A small bunking area with a bunk bed system. The bottom one seemed to double as a bench seat, and the top one looked like it might fold up. There were some cabinets off to the side along the wall. Max opened one and it looked like it folded out into a table. The others had traveling items in them. Things like hair brushes and deodorant. Stuff you might keep there because you’d forget them while packing.

Max gave them all a glance, but dismissed them once he noticed everyone’s traveling bags. Linned up on the floor underneath the bottom bench and completely unguarded. Max grinned and dropped down to his knees, only to shoot up to his feet when Mr. Green opened up the Driver’s side door.

“What are you doing?” Mr. Green grunted. Not happy to find Max already digging through the back. In the three seconds it took him to close the passenger door and walk around to the other.

“Nothing.” Max said, putting his hands behind his back.

“Buckle up then.” Mr. Green' s tone suggested that he ought to do so immediatly or there would be consequences.

Max quickly climbed back into the passenger seat. It took him a second to figure out how the seat belt worked, but managed it. He wasn’t quite tall enough to see out the front window, but if he sat on his knees he could look out the side window.

Red settled into the driver’s seat and started the engine. The machine turned over, and the Rig came to life around them.

“This is so cool.” Max couldn’t help but bounce up and down a bit. This was like a dream come true. He had always played with toy trucks and things when he was younger. Larger vehicles were also some of his favorite to steal in GTA and games like that. The chaos potential was phenomenal.

“This isn’t a monster truck.” Mr. Green advised, as he started to pull out.

“I know.” Max looked at him then out the window. “But can’t we like, at least run over a few things?”

Red snorted with amusement. Sadly there were no casualties on their short drive.

The back of the fair was a confusing and interesting place. All of the shop buildings were fused at the front, so as to keep non-workers from wandering into the area. All of the shops had back exits which opened up to the working area. Some of them had houses attached to them, like David’s family. Others didn’t. They went home for the night or lived in the RV homes scattered throughout the area. Though most of those had been the first to leave today. Everyone had been packing up to leave just like they had been. Some with trucks, others with trailers. Once you were packed up you locked up and left, so the more you had to pack up the longer you stayed.

The Green family wasn’t the last to leave, but as they drove the Rig to the parking lot everything seemed significantly emptier. There were no drunk groups walking around, or Jesters on stilts giving out vauge advice. It didn’t help that the weather was a bit overcast. It made everything feel gloomy.

Though, as they approached the parking area things seemed to change. There were rows of empty parking field areas, but over by where the bonfire and camping area had been last night, there was a large group of people and tents that only now seemed to be actively being deconstructed and put away.

Oh wow. Did he really steal that many keys? Max felt a little proud of himself now. He wished he had David’s phone to send a picture to the Neil and Nikki. They would have gotten a kick out of it.

The family’s cars weren’t parked with the stranded campers though. Rather across the way to where workers could set up trailer homes and things of that nature. David was already there with Daniel and Green. Having gotten there quickly by cutting through the tree lines the Rig had to drive around.

Red swung the Rig around and backed up into the area. David guiding him in.

Max watched the exchange through the side mirrors.

“How can you see out the back?” Max asked, after giving each mirror on his side a look. There wasn’t a rear view mirror, or one of those high-tech cameras that he could see.

“Can’t. You’ve got to be careful driving things like this.” Mr. Green answered. “It takes a lot of training.”

“How long have you been driving them?” Max asked.

“I drove them commercially for a while.” The man explained. “Before I opened up the carpenter shop, even before Little Red was born.”

“Really? What kinds of things did you haul?” “Mostly illegal fire arms.” “… I really shouldn’t be surprised.” “Not really.”

Max picked at a piece of dust on his shirt, left over from crawling around in the back of the trailer earlier. “Yeah. Should have figured.”

Mr. Green finally got the truck into position and parked the vehicle. He put his hand on the door, ready to get out, but stopped, and looked over to him. Instead of leaving he rested his arms on steering wheel and looked at him. Max avoided his eyes nervously. Mr. Green clearly wanted to take a moment to talk- _talk_.

“Kid. Our family has been in this kind of business for a long time.” The large man said, with a heavy significance. “If you’re having this much doubt about what we do. Perhaps you shouldn’t be staying with us.”

Max blinked at the man’s bluntness and was surprised. Not in that he was being pushed away, a lot of adults didn’t like him. More so in that it actually kind of hurt. He thought… he thought Mr. Green **liked** him. He had been putting up with his questions all day, and actually answering all of them.

“I’m not saying that as in I don’t want you around.” Mr. Green said bluntly and it was so contradictory to the train of thought Max had been on that he listened closer to the man, trying to discern what he was actually saying.

“You’re smarter than most kids, and have potential. But we’re not on the good side here.” Mr. Green looked at him, to make sure he had his attention and shrugged. “We’re just not. And if that makes you uncomfortable it’s not a good thing. You shouldn’t be forcing yourself to stay with people who put into uncomfortable situations."

Max stared at the man for a while, and figured out what he was saying for the most part. He looked down at the console and played with the sleeve of his jacket.

But what if he had no where else to go?

“There’s always somewhere to go.” Mr. Green said. Apparently Max had voiced that thought outloud. He kicked himself mentally.

“And we’re not just going to abandon you, we’ll work things out.”

The Man’s words felt very much like a promise. One Max would hold him to, possibly even harder than the learning fire thing.

“Okay. …Thank you Mr. Green.”

“Call me Red.” Mr. Green nodded, then opened his door. “Let’s get these cars loaded up.” He helped Max out of the passenger side of the car and they met everyone at the back. Ren was back, with his friends. They all stopped by to say goodbye to David. Hugs and tears and sappy friendship stuff. A few of them exchanged awkward farewells with Daniel. It was obvious which double they favored. Though Daniel didn’t seem to take any offence to it.

They loaded up the cars by setting out some metal tire ramps and driving the car up into the back of the trailer. It was really fucking cool to watch, because if you were watching the entrance to the Rig’s trailer when they drove in you could almost kind of make out the trailer warping to fit the larger vehicles in. Max didn’t get to be in any of the cars when they drove them in, sadly. Though Mr. Green did let him help secure the cars. Putting blocks between their wheels and anchoring them in place at the back of the trailers with chains, which he got to hook onto the car’s frame.

Max kind of wanted to see what ridding in the trailer would be like, but when he asked if he could he learned the first leg of their trip would be something like two hours long. So fuck that.

A few more good byes, and a restroom break later. They were all finally settled into the back of the Rig to finally take off. Mr. Green driving, Mrs. Green in the passenger seat. David, himself and much to his displeasure, Daniel were sitting in the back on the lower bunk.

David on his laptop trying to get his computer work from this morning done. Daniel settled into reading a book. Max himself didn’t have anything to do. So he stole David’s phone and played games on that, while playing the word-association game that Mrs. Green had taught him earlier that day. One he was having a lot of fun mixing in as many expletives as he could, which was upsetting not just David, but Daniel as well.

“Okay Daniel. Your turn.” Max said, kicking his feet happily.

“My word was Retard. So your word has to end in an R.”

“Murder.”

“Oh what, you complain about me using bad words and you go with something that creepy?” Max complained, leaning forward in his seat to glare at him. David was sitting between them. “hypocrisy, I say.”

“Hypocracy doesn’t start with an M.” Mrs. Green pointed out from the front. “I’ll go with… Manic.”

“Crrrrrispy.” David dragged out the word, as he read an email.

“Yack. Like when you throw up or whatever.” Max was after David in the order. He made a move on the phone game he was playing and set it down in his lap with a frown.

Speaking of murders- wasn’t Daniel supposed to kill a whole bunch of people today? With all the packing chaos, and learning about Magic he had completely forgotten about it. Did he forget about it as well? Max looked over to Daniel and scowled.

Daniel was thinking. “King.” He chose his word.

“Uhm… G.” Green struggled with a word, while Max struggled with the mental conundrum. “Grim.”

“Mmmmmayhem.” David said, not looking up from his computer.

Daniel couldn’t have gone off and murdered people, he was with them literally all day. Moving boxes and loading up the truck… no. He’d gone to say good bye to his friends.

“Max?” Daniel was the first to notice his silence. Max started, flinching away “Your word is Mayhem?” Daniel asked expectantly.

“Murderer.” Max whispered under his breath

“… We’ve already done that word.” Daniel pointed out with, head tilting to the side slightly. He had That same creepy smile on his face That he always did, adding to the “That mean you’re out. Right?”

“That’s how the game works.” David confirmed with a dry tone. He stopped typing and glanced over to him.

“Everything okay Max?”

“I-I’m good.” Max lied. He leaned back against the bench seat, and pulled up his legs. He stared down at the phone in his hand. Setting the device aside when the bright colors on it no longer appealed to him.

“M. Magnet.” Daniel said from not even two seats over. Less than even a full meter away. And he had murdered people. Today. Probably not even a handful of _hours_ ago? When had he left the house? Max couldn’t remember.

“That’s a good one.” Mrs. Green approved. “T. Time. Max. Why don’t we trade spots?” The one eye woman looked over her seat at him.

“I have a feeling this round will last a while. I don’t want you to get bored.”

“Okay.” Max wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to get a little space at the moment. At the next red light the two of them traded spots. Red making sure he was buckled in before driving again. The three weridoes sat in the back seat, playing their game wit way to much investment.

Meanwhile Max sat in the front seat, watching the roads pass them by as they left town and headed south. A heavy silence hung over him, and he hated it. He wanted to say something, but couldn’t. David had told him it was happening, but he didn’t say enough to make it stop. Didn’t do enough to make it stop. Max had never felt so close to a panic attack, yet so far away from one at the same time. It kind of felt like the drive a few nights ago, after his father shucked him off onto David.

He felt like he ought to do something. Pray, maybe? He didn’t really know how too though. That thought didn’t help. He’d been to Sunday school, sure. But never actually paid attention all that well. He kind of regretted that now. He sunk down and sat on the passenger seat properly, meaning that all he could see outside of the window was the darkening sky. Pulling his legs up to his chest and the putting his hoodie over them. He rested his head on his knees and closed his eyes. Taking a moment to maybe try and send something up. a message or thought. Though if God actually cared… why hadn’t he stopped  Daniel yet? That was a bad thought. Praying wasn’t helping. Max didn’t want to think about that.

He turned his head to the side, and looked at the driver beside him. “This isn’t as fun as I thought it would be.” Max said after a bit.

Mr. Green glanced at him for a second, then returned his eyes back to the road. “It never is.” 

“… I’m sorry it had to be this way.” The man said. It seemed genuine.

Max was grateful for that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: I went back and fixed all of the blatant errors. Sorry guys, idk howbi missed them.  
> Hey guys! Long time no proper see. I'm doing two chapters this month since i didn't post last month.  
> God writer's block sucks. Do you want to know how long it took me to write chapter 19? Let me give you a hint... I was working on it Before i posted chapter 17. Thats right! I was 2 Months ahead of schedule, and it was still a month late. Though that was more from scheduling conflicts on my part. you know those time where you're like 'i'll post it tomorrow lol' and then you're like. oh. it's the 10th. wait, it's the 15th?! and at that point it's probably just better to post 2 at a time than do something mid-month.  
> Like I said in my last end-note. I wish there was a way I could communicate delays like that to you guys. I don't want to update/post a whole chapter just to get the word out. It annoys me when people do that so I don't like doing it myself. If you guys have an suggestions on how i could resolve this issue i'd love to hear them. I just hate leaving you guys hanging.
> 
> Anyway.
> 
> I absolutely love this chapter. I love writing Max as a kid, being a kid, and doing kid things. like getting exited over cool trucks and possibly wielding fire and doing shenanigans. I absolutely hate ending such a light hearted chapter on such a negative note... but thats just how story boarding goes unfortunately. Since we'll most likely be with Someone else's POV next chapter we kind of need to establish how Max is feeling now rather than later.
> 
> WARNING NOTE: the next chapter will actually be from Daniel's point of view. He will be murdering people, and there will be blood and gore and dark magi stuff. please do be advised. 
> 
> i'm not telling you this for hype factor, one of my best friends has been complaining to me how she hates when stuff isn't tagged or there aren't warning because some themes giver her genuine panic attacks. So, as a good friend i want to make an effort to do the same for my readers. Though, honestly if you've been here this long (remember chapter 17) i'm pretty sure you've got a good sense of how dark this story can be sometimes. Thanks for sticking around.
> 
> Reviews are always welcome, happy late-halloween guys!

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own these Characters and Reviews are appreciated!


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